Cubs Claim RHP Christian Roa from Orioles

Though the Cubs have not officially announced it yet, their transaction log from Sunday showed that they have claimed righty Christian Roa — no relation to Colin Rea — off waivers from the Orioles and optioned him to Triple-A Iowa. Noa was designated for assignment on Friday after the O’s picked up righty Eduarniel Núñez in a trade with the Athletics. Moving Hunter Harvey to the 60-man IL cleared an extra space on the 40-man roster, so no additional transaction was required.

The Cubs are the hard-throwing Roa’s sixth organization in the last four years, which isn’t a great sign. Taken by the Reds in the second round of the 2020 draft out of Texas A&M, he worked his way up to Triple-A in 2024 before being DFA’d at the end of the season. The Marlins claimed him and he got a cup of coffee in late 2025, then signed with the Astros as a minor league free agent this past offseason.

After 8.2 innings in seven appearances, Roa was again DFA’d and claimed by the Twins. Minnesota DFA’d him following just 3 appearances, then the Orioles picked him up and let him record one whole out before likewise sending him packing. That means the Cubs are actually his fifth organization in a little over six months. Yeesh.

Roa’s sinker and fastball sit around 96 mph, but he’s thrown his slider the most in his limited MLB action. That repertoire has led to more strikeouts than innings pitched in his professional career, but he’s struggled badly with walks. The Cubs see this as a low-risk flyer on a guy whose velocity may outweigh his suspect control, especially now that the one reliever they signed due to his big fastball has been on the shelf most of the season. That would be Harvey, just in case you had forgotten that’s why he was brought in.

A former starter, Roa has worked strictly in relief over the past two seasons. We’re going to keep seeing more of these band-aid moves as the Cubs wait for their MASH unit of injured pitchers to work their way back to active duty.