SF Giants poach former All-Star lefty pitcher from the Dodgers

The SF Giants have signed left-handed pitcher Drew Pomeranz after he was released from his minor league deal by the Dodgers. It will be his second stint with the Giants after he was with the team back in 2019..

SF Giants poach former All-Star lefty pitcher from the Dodgers

Pomeranz was only on the Giants for half a season back in 2019. The Giants used him primarily as a starter and he struggled mightily to the tune of a 5.68 ERA. 

However, the team moved him to the bullpen where he showcased some higher velocity and looked much better than when he was a starter. This allowed the Giants to trade him and Ray Black to the Brewers in exchange for Mauricio Dubon. 

Pomeranz was solid for the Brewers and then signed a four year deal with the Padres in the offseason, the same team he had been an All-Star with back in 2016. When he was on the field for the first two years of that deal he was simply fantastic. In 2020 he had a 1.45 ERA in 20 games and in 2021 he had a 1.75 ERA in 27 games. All 47 of those appearances came as a reliever. 

Unfortunately for Pomeranz, 2022 and 2023 were injury riddled. He had to have multiple surgeries for a flexor tendon injury and had a setback in 2023. He has not pitched in a big league game since 2021.

He was signed to a minor league deal by the Dodgers earlier this year and had an ERA of 6.00 in 9 innings pitched before he was released. 

The Giants are now taking a chance on him. Who knows how effective he will be given his injury history and the fact that he hasn’t pitched in a big league game since 2021. But the Giants needed a fresher arm in their bullpen given the fact that they have had to lean heavily on their relievers as of late. 

Perhaps Pomeranz can eat up some innings for them in low leverage situations to try to preserve some of their other arms in the bullpen. 

In a perfect world, Pomeranz would recapture his former self from 2020 and 2021 and become one of the best relievers in the league just to make the Dodgers feel silly for releasing him. Sometimes it’s the small victories that really count.