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Cubs Name Unlikely Starting Pitcher For NLDS Game 5 In Milwaukee

The left-hander who had not pitched in Major League Baseball since 2021 will open the most important game of the Cubs' season as they seek their first trip to the NLCS in eight years.
Benjamin Rosenberg|
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Chicago CubsMilwaukee Brewers

Drew Pomeranz has the chance to write a storybook ending to what has already been an improbable season.

The 36-year-old left-hander had pitched for six different Major League teams, including the Milwaukee Brewers, but had not appeared in a big-league game since 2021 when the Chicago Cubs acquired him in an April trade with the Seattle Mariners.

Pomeranz was pitching in Triple-A at the time but had a promotion clause in his contract, requiring the Mariners to either call him up or offer him to other teams with an opening at the MLB level. The Cubs took a chance on him, and it worked better than either party could have possibly expected — Pomeranz became one of Chicago's most trusted relievers, with a 2.17 ERA in 49 2/3 innings.

And now, Pomeranz will take the ball to start the most important game of the Cubs' season. Chicago announced Saturday morning that Pomeranz will be the opener for Game 5 of the National League Division Series against the Brewers at American Family Field. A win sends the Cubs to the NL Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers; a loss ends their season.

A starter for much of his career, Pomeranz worked almost entirely out of the bullpen with Chicago, though he did open four games in the regular season. Along with Daniel Palencia, Caleb Thielbar, Andrew Kittredge and Brad Keller, he has been one of the Cubs' high-leverage relief options during this postseason, and has retired all 15 batters he's faced in five scoreless innings.

Pomeranz has plenty of playoff experience, appearing in October with the Boston Red Sox in 2016 and 2017, the Brewers in 2019 and the San Diego Padres in 2020. He played for current Cubs manager Craig Counsell in Milwaukee for the second half of the 2019 season.

Craig Counsell
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Chicago has plenty of options to follow Pomeranz. Shota Imanaga started Game 2 but was knocked around, allowing home runs to Andrew Vaughn and William Contreras in an eventual 7-3 Cubs loss. Colin Rea saved the bullpen with 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief in that game, though he did not strike out a batter. Right-handers Michael Soroka, Aaron Civale and Ben Brown should all be available for long relief if needed.

With an off day Friday as the series shifted back to Milwaukee, the remaining four high-leverage relievers should also be ready to hear their names called if the game is close in the late innings.

The Cubs are 2-0 all-time in decisive NLDS games, winning in Atlanta in 2003 and in Washington in 2017. But they have not been back to the NLCS since that 2017 season as they attempt to complete the comeback from down two games to none in this series.

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Benjamin Rosenberg
BENJAMIN ROSENBERG

Benjamin Rosenberg attended his first game at Wrigley Field before he even knew what a baseball was, and has maintained a strong passion for baseball and the Cubs ever since. He grew up in both suburban Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area, and graduated with both bachelor’s and master's degrees in journalism from Northwestern University in 2021. Benjamin has covered just about every high school and college sport imaginable all over the United States, with a particular focus on softball. He was named the 2022 New Hampshire Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association.

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