Veteran reliever Drew Pomeranz is back on the open market after electing free agency, according to the MLB.com transaction tracker. The Cubs designated him for assignment on Monday and sent him through waivers.
Pomeranz spent a couple weeks on the MLB roster in his second stint with the Cubs. While he surprisingly provided excellent results as a minor league pickup in 2025, he didn’t have nearly the same success in a brief look this year. Pomeranz surrendered five runs on seven hits and four walks over 5 2/3 innings. He only struck out one of the 27 hitters he faced.
That continued Pomeranz’s early-season struggles with the Angels. Signed to a $4MM free agent deal over the winter, the southpaw pitched to a 5.01 ERA with a well below-average 14.8% strikeout rate across 23 1/3 innings. Los Angeles released him fairly quickly and the return to Chicago didn’t turn things around.
It’s a surprising drop after Pomeranz fanned 28% of opponents en route to a 2.17 ERA across 49 2/3 frames last year. His stuff has backed up slightly but not so dramatically that it’d predict this kind of regression. Pomeranz’s average fastball velocity has dipped from 92.7 mph to 92.1, while its spin rate has dropped by 59 rpm. Hitters have already tagged the heater for seven homers after just three longballs last season.
The Cubs are back to using two lefties, Caleb Thielbar and Ryan Rolison, in the bullpen. Rolison has had a strong season to earn more leverage opportunities of late. Thielbar is missing a lot of bats but has given up a few too many home runs. Hoby Milner and Riley Martin each have a chance to return from injuries in August. They could poke around for another southpaw on the trade front, but starting pitching is going to be the priority over the next ten days.
