It’s no secret that Jed Hoyer and the Chicago Cubs will be on the hunt for pitching, pitching and more pitching between now and the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
But much like Friday’s roster move, the additions to the pitching staff in the short term won’t be headline-grabbing. The Cubs brought back veteran left-hander Drew Pomeranz, selecting his contract from Triple-A Iowa.
“It’s not like there’s tons of teams that are looking to move players at this moment,” Hoyer said before the series opener against the Cardinals at Wrigley Field. “We’ll keep making small moves and patch holes and do those things. The hope every time is that you churn through and you find a guy or two that can really help you over the long haul.
“And I hope we can find that and look back and say this period of time of flux in the bullpen and the rotation allowed us to find something.”
Just a few hours later, the Cardinals crushed Cubs pitchers, including one of the bigger additions the team has made. The Cardinals amassed a double-digit lead in the fourth inning, walloping the Cubs 17-1 and further highlighting their need for pitching.
Left-hander David Peterson, acquired last week from the New York Mets, showed some of the worrisome signs that led his former team to move him to the bullpen and ultimately made him available in a rare June trade.
The Cubs starter surrendered 10 runs on nine hits with three walks in 3 2/3 innings. Bryse Wilson, claimed off waivers a day before the Peterson trade, allowed seven runs in three innings of relief.
The Cubs could fill out a pitching staff with their 13 arms on the injured list, a group that includes three of the five members on their opening-day rotation. Peterson was acquired when two of the starters, Ben Brown and Edward Cabrera, landed on the IL. Those two injuries intensified trade talks between the Mets and Cubs, but teams are still finding out where they’ll land on the buying or selling spectrum of the deadline.
There were just five teams in both leagues that were nine games or more out of a playoff spot entering Friday. That leaves plenty of teams that will want to see how the next month plays out before deciding whether to push their chips in. The draft, which starts July 11, is eating up plenty of time for front offices, meaning any pitching reinforcements for the Cubs will come in smaller deals.
“Just in general, my expectation is that it’s not a lot of sellers,” Hoyer said. “And the expectation is that it’s going to take till close to the deadline for some of those things to sort out. So yes, I do think the draft is usually a quieter time, but I also think it’s the nature of how the standings look right now.”
The trade deadline also takes a different look this year with the potential lockout this offseason that could affect how much, or if, baseball is played in 2027. Will the Cubs or any other team make a big swing for a pitcher with multiple years of control when they might not be available in 2027?
“That’s a question every team’s going to have to answer for themselves,” Hoyer said. “And I think by definition, if every team’s answering that question for themselves, that creates instability, right? So maybe that’s even a good way to define it. Everyone’s going to think about ‘27 a little bit differently, and that could lead to some differences in opinion during the trade market.”
Addition by volume is the approach this time of the year, and Pomeranz provides a familiar face. The 37-year-old was brought in with the hopes that he could return to being some semblance of the reliever he was in 2025, when he posted a 2.17 ERA in 57 appearances. He served as the opener in the Cubs’ Game 5 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Division Series.
The Cubs acquired Pomeranz in a minor-league deal with the Seattle Mariners last year and developed him into a key reliever for manager Craig Counsell. He signed with the Los Angeles Angels in the offseason, was designated for assignment on June 15 and signed a minor-league deal with the Cubs on June 22.
Pomeranz pitched a scoreless ninth inning in the loss.
The Cubs have an opening in the bullpen after left-hander Hoby Milner landed on the IL last week following an appendectomy. He could miss up to six weeks, and that time frame creates some runway for Pomeranz to try to recapture his 2025 form.
“We think Drew is in a pretty similar place that he was last year, maybe it’s going to take little things to do,” Counsell said before Friday’s loss. “We think that’s worth a shot at taking.”
Award for Cubs star
Before the game, Pete Crow-Armstrong was named the National League player of the month for June. He hit .381 with 11 home runs, 20 RBIs, eight stolen bases and a 1.249 OPS. He’s the 15th Cub to win the award and first since Cody Bellinger in July 2023.
“It’s cool, but it doesn’t really have anything to do with moving forward here and what’s to come this year,” said Crow-Armstrong, who went 1-for-3 in the loss. “Nice to be recognized next to (Tampa Bay Rays’ American League player of the month) Junior (Caminero) because I’m a big fan of his game. There’s a lot of good players in this league and in the National League specifically.
“I’m proud of a lot of the games and the moments that kind of went down this month and I’m just really proud of the way that we’ve been playing the last couple weeks.”
Andy Martinez is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
