Cubs reunite with former Brewers' reliever who played a key role in 2025 postseason run

Most Milwaukee Brewers fans could probably tell you who started Game 5 of their memorable NLDS win over the Chicago Cubs last year. After allowing runs in the first inning of each of the first four games of the series, manager Pat Murphy sent his All-Star closer Trevor Megill out for the first frame of Game 5, and the flame-thrower set the tone with a three-up, three-down inning.

Perhaps a far better trivia question for Brewers fans is: who started Game 5 of the 2025 NLDS for the Cubs? That would be none other than Brewers' 2019 trade deadline acquisition Drew Pomeranz. After going more than three seasons without appearing in a single major league game, the 36-year-old Pomeranz enjoyed a surprising resurgence with the Cubs last year. In 57 appearances out of Chicago's bullpen during the regular season, Pomeranz posted a 2.17 ERA with a 1.07 WHIP.

When the postseason rolled around, Pomeranz was one of Craig Counsell's most trusted relievers. As a result, the Cubs' skipper called upon the shut-down southpaw frequently during Chicago's 2025 playoff run. Pomeranz appeared in two out of Chicago's three games against the San Diego Padres during the Wild Card round and four of the Cubs' five games against the Brewers. What's even more impressive is that when Pomeranz took the mound for the Cubs in the first inning of Game 5, he had yet to allow a single baserunner during the postseason. Pomeranz threw five perfect innings with five strikeouts in his first five outings of the 2025 playoffs.

However, with two outs in the first inning of Game 5 and a full count on Brewers' catcher William Contreras, Pomeranz surrendered his first hit of the postseason -- a line drive homer from Wild Bill that ended up in the Brewers' bullpen.

Pomeranz's impressive performance with the Cubs last year netted him a one-year, $4 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels this past offseason. However, on June 15, with Pomeranz sporting a season-long ERA of 5.01, the Angels designated him for assignment, and a few days later, he was released. After a brief stint on the free agent market, Pomeranz agreed to a minor league deal with the Cubs on Monday, rejoining the organization in which he had a great deal of success a season ago.

Cubs reunite with left-handed reliever Drew Pomeranz who has been lights-out in his last 12 outings

Pomeranz got off to an incredibly slow start with the Angels. Through his first 13 appearances of the 2026 campaign, the veteran southpaw posted a 9.26 ERA with a 1.89 WHIP. However, since the calendar flipped to May, Pomeranz has looked like the dominant reliever he was a year ago.

Dating back to a May 3 outing against the New York Mets, Pomeranz holds a 0.77 ERA in 12 appearances, allowing just one earned run during the stretch. The wily left-hander is certainly getting rather lucky, as evidenced by an xFIP of 6.14. Expected fielding independent pitching or xFIP is a metric that is supposed to capture a pitcher's true effectiveness without defense or luck taken into account, and is scaled using the ERA scale, meaning a 6.14 xFIP is rather startling given Pomeranz's 0.77 ERA. Additionally, Pomeranz's 13.7% strikeout rate and 9.8% walk rate during the stretch don't necessarily scream "dominant," but he's certainly getting results.

It's important to note that this luck-aided performance is rather similar to the results Pomeranz posted a season ago. While his 3.69 xFIP in 2025 was certainly solid for a middle to back-end reliever, it was more than a run worse than his ERA of 2.17.

Counsell seemingly knows how to get the best out of Pomeranz, who also enjoyed a dominant stretch in the Brewers' bullpen back in 2019. The now-37-year-old southpaw has been assigned to the Cubs' Arizona Complex League affiliate to build back up after 12 days have passed since his last big-league outing. However, with Chicago's myriad of pitching injuries, don't be surprised if Pomeranz is up with the big-league squad in the near future.

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