CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs and right-handed pitcher Ryan Tepera have agreed to terms on a 2020 contract. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Chicago’s 40-man roster now stands at 39 players. 

Tepera, 32, is 12-11 with 39 holds, 10 saves and a 3.64 ERA (87 ER/215.1 IP) in 216 career big league appearances, all but one in relief, covering all or part of five seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays (2015-19). He has struck out 203 batters in 215.1 innings pitched with a 1.16 WHIP while limiting foes to a .302 on-base percentage. Overall, Tepera has held opponents to a .220 batting average, which features identical .220 marks by both right-handed and left-handed batters, and has held all foes to a .690 OPS, including a .645 mark by right-handed hitters.

The 6-foot-2 righthander went 7-1 with 18 holds, two saves and a 3.59 ERA (31 ER/77.2 IP) in a career-high 73 relief outings with the Blue Jays in 2017, his first full major league campaign. Tepera followed up by posting career-bests with 19 holds and seven saves a season later, going 5-5 with a 3.62 ERA (26 ER/64.2 IP) in 68 relief outings. In 2019, Tepera was limited to 23 relief appearances with the Blue Jays due to a right elbow impingement that sidelined him from mid-May through the end of August. Tepera returned to post a 3.38 ERA (4 ER/10.2 IP) in 11 outings in September.

A native of Houston, Texas, Tepera was selected by the Blue Jays in the 19th round of the 2009 Draft out of Sam Houston State University (Texas).