Over four months have passed since Hunter Harvey last threw a big league pitch for the Kansas City Royals. Called upon by manager Matt Quatraro to protect a razor-thin, seventh-inning 1-0 lead, he allowed Minnesota a pair of harmless singles, and no runs. The Royals won the August 9 contest 2-0.

Harvey’s performance that late summer night mirrored the excellence of all his 2025 appearances. His perfect 0.00 ERA tells most of the story; his 9.28 K/9 and 0.84 BB/9 help fill in the gaps. He was, to put it simply, stellar from beginning to end.

But there is more to the story. Yes, Harvey, acquired midway through the 2024 season in a trade deadline period deal with Washington, and now a free agent, pitched superbly for the Royals in 2025, perhaps even better than they had a right to expect considering the back trouble that prematurely ended his 2024 season less than a month after he arrived in Kansas City. That he made it into only 12 games for KC this year, though, taints his otherwise great 2025 work.

Should that taint, and the fact he’s pitched so infrequently for Kansas City, dissuade general manager J.J. Picollo from trying to bring him back for another shot with the Royals?

No.

Reuniting with Hunter Harvey could help the Royals in 2026

Summarily dismissing the idea of a Harvey-Kansas City reunion would be easy. He was struggling (2-4 with a 4.22 ERA) with the Nationals when they shipped him to Kansas City two seasons ago, and not much changed with the Royals — the right-hander had surrendered four runs and eight hits, and walked four, in only 5.2 innings before landing on the IL.

The back injury that put him there for the rest of the season, and the teres major and adductor strains that sidelined him for the better part of 2025, can’t be ignored.

None of that, however, should convince Picollo and his front office lieutenants that Harvey isn’t worth pursuing. Highlighting his big league résumé are the 2.70 ERA and 1.020 WHIP he put up across 95 games and 100 innings for the Nationals over the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Only for the short 2020 campaign did he post a negative fWAR. He’s fanned almost 27% of the batters he’s faced, and his 6.8% walk rate is far from terrible.

Harvey could be a valuable piece of a bullpen that was good in 2025 and, thanks to the recent additions of former Royal Matt Strahm and promising reliever Nick Mears should be even better in 2026. Adding a healthy, on-the-beam Harvey would deepen the pen and make it more formidable than it’s already sizing up to be.

A gamble, yes, but one that could potentially pay off handsomely for the Royals.