CHICAGO -- When the bullpen became a trouble area early on last season, the Cubs made a series of in-season moves that helped stabilize the group. The front office is once again keeping an active eye on which arms become available early on this year with the goal of strengthening the relief corps.
During Monday’s off-day, the Cubs swung a small trade with the Mariners, acquiring veteran lefty Drew Pomeranz in exchange for cash considerations. While Pomeranz is en route to joining the North Siders, Chicago recalled righty Gavin Hollowell from Triple-A Iowa and optioned lefty Jordan Wicks to the same affiliate ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Dodgers.
“Those kinds of deals can make a big difference,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said on Tuesday. “And it’s just not ever getting to a place of comfort with it. You’ve just got to continue to add where you can add, and try to optimize the guys you have.
“It’s hard to get to a place where you feel like all eight guys are equal contributors, but that should be the goal. And we’re not there right now, so we’ve just got to continue to work on it.”
Last year, the Cubs added righty Tyson Miller in a small trade with Seattle, signed Jorge López during the season and promoted Porter Hodge from Triple-A, helping shore up the bullpen as it ran into injuries and other issues in the first half. The maneuvering did not end there, but it offered a look into how Hoyer and his front office like to be aggressive on that front.
Miller and Ryan Brasier are currently on the comeback trail while on the injured list, and Eli Morgan was recently shelved with a right elbow setback. The Cubs have lacked a secondary lefty behind veteran Caleb Thielbar, giving Luke Little and Wicks recent looks. In the name of depth and boosting the left-handed options, Chicago zeroed in on Pomeranz.
Pomeranz, 36, had a clause in his Minor League contract with the Mariners that required Seattle to either promote him to the Majors or offer him to other teams with a big league opening. While the Cubs announced that Pomeranz is initially reporting to Triple-A Iowa, the expectation is that he will report to the MLB team soon.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell managed Pomeranz in 2019, when the Brewers landed the lefty at the Trade Deadline. Down the stretch that summer, Pomeranz struck out 45, walked eight and spun a 2.39 ERA in 25 appearances (26 1/3 innings) for Milwaukee.
“We’ve been on kind of a search for left-handed depth,” Counsell said. “He’s heading in the right direction with his stuff. His velocity is on a good trajectory right now. And when he’s had the better fastball velocity, he’s had success in this league.”
Pomeranz logged 9 2/3 innings for Triple-A Tacoma this season, striking out 14 and walking six with a 4.66 ERA. He averaged 91 mph with his fastball in his first outing of the year on March 28, but has been sitting between 92.5-93.5 mph on average in his last three appearances, per Statcast.
“Obviously, contractually, it was the time to go after him,” Hoyer said. “He’s been throwing the ball well in Triple-A and threw well in Spring Training.”
After that 2019 showing with the Brewers, Pomeranz landed a four-year, $34 million contract with the Padres, but injuries impacted his time in San Diego. When healthy, the lefty spun a 1.62 ERA in 47 games for the Padres, but he last appeared in the Majors in ’21. He had a flexor tendon injury in August of ’21 and needed a left elbow procedure in ’23.
Pomeranz has a 3.91 ERA in 289 appearances in parts of 11 Major League seasons between stints with six teams, holding lefty batters to a .224 average and .613 OPS in his career.
“We’ll continue to shuffle the bullpen,” Hoyer said. “If you have a position on the field that’s struggling, you’re not very often going to go on waivers and find someone that’s going to help you. In the bullpen, it happens all the time. It’s never a finished product.
“I expect that we’ll continue to add guys. We’ll continue to do deals. I’m sure that's an area at the Deadline and throughout the summer we’ll be active on. The goal is to kind of never rest.”