Inside The Cubs

Cubs Bullpen Takes Another Massive Blow As No.1 Reliever Heads To Phillies

The Chicago Cubs will not have their go-to for 2026.
Maddy Dickens|
Craig Counsell
Craig Counsell | Jovanny Hernandez / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Chicago Cubs

It has been a brutal 24 hours for the Chicago Cubs' bullpen as a pair of free agents were whisked away by other teams.

It started with Drew Pomeranz, who signed with the Los Angeles Angels last night and followed with Brad Keller, who just signed a two-year $22M deal with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Keller made a team-high 68 appearances in which he posted a 2.07 ERA and 0.96 WHIP while holding opponents to a batting average of .182. This is a massive loss for the Cubs' pen.

It is safe to say that the Cubs' organization wasn't willing to cough up that much money, and that is a hard-to-say-no-to contract for Keller.

Cubs' 2026 Bullpen

This was easily one of the best relieving staffs in baseball last season, and it's dwindling by the day. They had a four-headed monster inside the bullpen that included Pomeranz, Keller, Caleb Thielbar and Daniel Palencia.

Thielbar was locked down yesterday morning, but unfortunately, his former teammates have quickly departed since then. Thielbar was utilized as much as Keller and posted a team-best 0.88 WHIP to complement his 2.64 ERA.

Caleb Thielber
Caleb Thielber | David Banks-Imagn Images

Chicago added some relievers to the bullpen long before Keller's departure, as Phil Maton signed a two-year deal of his own for $14.5M and could arguably emerge as the better buy if the Cubs were to guarantee any reliever to a two-year contract.

Maton finished the year with a higher ERA (2.79) but had more strikeouts (81) in fewer innings. Plus, Maton will have arguably the best defense in the majors standing behind him, so his ERA could be hovering around the 2.00 mark next year.

The Cubs also added a ground-ball specialist whom they stole from the Texas Rangers in Hoby Milner. Milner's 3.84 ERA might scare people off, but Jed Hoyer isn't worried about it, as the players standing behind him are some of the best defenders across the league.

With both Pomeranz and Keller leaving the pitching staff, the Cubs will have their work cut out for them to find replacements, even with the additions of Milner and Maton.

However, their bullpen is far from opening day ready, and now all efforts need to be on securing the rest of the group.

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Maddy Dickens
MADDY DICKENS

Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.

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