Cubs Shocking Veteran Bullpen Acquisition Off to Incredibly Dominant Start

The Chicago Cubs have gotten bullpen production from the most unlikely of places.

May 26, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Drew Pomeranz (45) pitches during the eighth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. | Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

After what was a brutal start to the season in this area, the Chicago Cubs seem to be trending in the right direction in the bullpen as of late.

For a while, it looked like the Achilles heel of a team that has real potential was not being able to trust their relievers to close out wins, and though there is still work to do, the forecast is starting to look a whole lot better.

A massive part of the reason for that has been the emergence of one of the most under the radar acquisitions of the season.

Drew Pomeranz Has Pitched Lights Out For Cubs

When Chicago made a trade with the Seattle Mariners back towards the end of April for veteran left-hander Drew Pomeranz, not many across baseball batted an eye.

And why would they have?

Pomeranz had not pitched in the Major Leagues since 2021 and over the last several years has dealt with a laundry list of injuries, not even putting up huge numbers when he was on the field, mostly in Triple-A.

Despite not entering the Windy City to much fanfare, the 36-year-old has come in and been absolutely lights out for the Cubs.

In 15 appearances so far this year, Pomeranz has yet to give up an earned run (0.00 ERA) with a 0.512 WHIP, striking out 15 batters in 13.2 innings pitched.

All of the sudden, the lefty looks like a star again after not throwing a big league pitch in nearly a half decade and struggling at the minor league level.

It goes to show there is value in finding guys who may not be on Major League contracts and the continued elite level of talent evaluation Chicago has done in this area.

Like many of the Cubs offseason acquisitions, trading for Pomeranz a month into the season very much went under the radar.

Just because it wasn't a massive splash though does not mean it was not a quality addition.

Chicago's front office and Jed Hoyer are making a habit of finding cheap production and getting the absolute most out of guys, a trait which is always going to be a bigger difference maker than one huge contract.

If this version of Pomeranz is what he really is at this point in his career, the Cubs have themselves a shutdown reliever that they can rely upon to go win games.

For Pomeranz, he has given what will likely be one of his final teams a massive boost in a push for World Series contention.