Cubs, RHP Jonathan Holder agree to 2021 contract

CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs and right-handed pitcher Jonathan Holder have agreed to terms on a 2021 non-guaranteed contract. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Holder, 27, is 10-6 with 14 holds and a 4.38 ERA (86 ER/176.2 IP) in 157 major league games, all but two as a reliever, in all or part of five seasons with the New York Yankees from 2016-20. He has averaged 8.4 strikeouts per 9.0 innings, collecting 165 strikeouts in 176.2 innings, and has walked 53 batters.

The six-foot two-inch Holder was 3-0 with a 4.98 ERA (12 ER/21.2 IP) in 18 relief appearances for the Yankees last season, walking 11, striking out 14 and holding the opponent scoreless in 12 of his outings. He posted a 0.90 ERA (1 ER/10.0 IP) in eight games from August 20-September 13, contributing to a 2.08 season ERA at the time, before he surrendered eight runs in his final three outings (4.1 IP).

Holder was selected by the Yankees in the sixth round of the 2014 draft out of Mississippi State University, and two years later made his major league debut with eight relief appearances for New York in 2016. His most extensive major league action came in 2018 in which he posted a 3.14 ERA (23 ER/66.0 IP) in a career-high 60 relief appearances for the Yankees.

The Cubs 40-man roster is at 36 players.