Chicago Cubs Veteran Has Brought Stabilization to Bullpen With Strong Performance

The Chicago Cubs have gotten off to such a strong start in the 2025 MLB regular season on the back of an explosive offense.

Entering May, they were leading baseball with 5.94 runs per game. That number is only going to increase after they won their first game of the month against the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-3.

Now with a record of 19-13, they remain in first place in the National League Central. It is a position they look capable of holding onto with how good their offense is, but if they want to truly put a stranglehold on the division, they need some improved performances on the mound.

More specifically, from their bullpen.

The same issue that plagued the team throughout 2024 has carried over into 2025, with their relief staff being a major Achilles' heel.

Prior to the game on Thursday afternoon against the Pirates, five out of their nine most-used relief pitchers had a WAR of 0.0 or worse. In need of all kinds of pitching help, it would not be a surprise if the team looks to make some more changes in the near future.

They have already made one, acquiring veteran left-handed pitcher Drew Pomeranz via purchasing from the Seattle Mariners.

It wasn’t a transaction that garnered a lot of attention since he hasn’t pitched in a Major League game since Aug. 10, 2021. He has thrown in the minor leagues in the years since but last week, on April 25, it was the first time since.

Pomeranz had a successful debut, throwing a scoreless inning against the Philadelphia Phillies in a 4-0 win, striking out two and walking one. He was called upon right away the following night, throwing 1.1 perfect innings.

On April 30 against the Pirates, Pomeranz had another shutout inning with one strikeout. But, this performance stood out because of how nasty his arsenal was on the mound.

As shared by Pitch Profiler on X, he was blowing away Pittsburgh hitters with a dominant four-seam fastball and knuckle-curve combo.

He had a proStuff+ score of 123 in the game with a 33.3% whiff rate and didn’t have a single pitch barreled.

HOLY DREW POMERANZ pic.twitter.com/mPBpWoCnuF
— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) May 1, 2025

Seeing a pitcher perform that well after being out of the Big Leagues for so long is incredibly impressive, but this level of dominance isn’t anything new for the veteran.

In 2020 with the San Diego Padres he fully transitioned to the bullpen and recorded a 1.45 ERA across 18.2 innings. He was just as good in 2021 with a 1.75 ERA across 25.2 innings.

The Cubs could certainly be catching lightning in a bottle here with Pomeranz successfully making a comeback after injuries derailed him the last few years.

He has been excellent in his MLB career as a reliever with a 2.37 ERA in 163.1 innings with 202 strikeouts. Performing near that level would be a major boost for Chicago, searching for anyone who can help in their bullpen.

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