The Giants announced that they have signed left-hander Drew Pomeranz to a one-year deal. It was reported earlier that he had been released from his minor league deal with the Dodgers. In corresponding moves, right-hander Mason Black was optioned and catcher Jakson Reetz was designated for assignment.
Pomeranz, 35, returns to the major leagues for the first time since 2021. With the Padres at that time, he required flexor tendon surgery and repeatedly hit setbacks in his attempts to return to the mound in the following two years.
This year, he signed a minor league deal with the Angels and threw eight innings for them in Spring Training. He didn’t crack the Opening Day roster with that club, getting released and signing a new minor league deal with the Dodgers.
Since signing with the Dodgers, Pomeranz has been pitching for Triple-A Oklahoma City, with a couple of interruptions. He once opted out but then re-signed shortly thereafter. He also landed on the minor league injured list April 21 but returned from the IL a couple of weeks back.
He’s made two appearances since coming off the IL, striking out seven batters in three scoreless innings. Overall, he’s has thrown nine innings for OKC with six earned runs allowed this year, but four of those came in his first appearance of the season. In eight frames since then, he has a 2.25 earned run average, 48.3% strikeout rate and 3.4% walk rate.
That good form perhaps gives the Giants some optimism that Pomeranz can get back to the pitcher he once was. Prior to his injury woes, he spent a decent chunk of time as a lockdown reliever, a period of his career that began with the Giants. That club signed him to a one-year deal in 2019 but he had a 6.10 ERA through 17 starts. They moved him to the bullpen and he looked good enough in four relief outings that the Giants were able to trade him to the Brewers alongside Ray Black for Mauricio Dubón.
Pomeranz dominated for the Brewers and parlayed that showing into a four-year deal with the Padres going into 2020. He continued pitching well for the Friars and had a 1.91 ERA from the time of the trade to Milwaukee to the end of 2021. He struck out 37.8% of batters faced, gave out walks at a 10.2% clip and got grounders at a 46.2% rate.
As mentioned, the last two years of his deal with the Padres were lost in the injury wilderness. But he seems to have mostly been in good health this year, pitching for the Angels in the spring and for Oklahoma City since then. That sets him up for a nice comeback story and perhaps gives the Giants a chance to catch lightning in a bottle.
The Giants have won seven of their last 10 and are now just one game out of a Wild Card spot. That’s been despite a poor performance from the bullpen, as San Francisco’s relievers have a collective 4.59 ERA on the year, which puts them 25th in the league. If Pomeranz is in good form, he can help bolster that group for a playoff chase this summer. Or if the Giants should fall out of contention, perhaps Pomeranz will find himself traded away from San Francisco at the deadline for a second time.
Reetz, 28, was added to the club’s roster a few weeks back as their catching depth was suddenly thinned out. Tom Murphy suffered a significant knee sprain and Patrick Bailey was battling concussion symptoms. But the Giants later signed Curt Casali to share the catching duties with Blake Sabol, nudging Reetz back down to the minors. Bailey has since been reinstated from the concussion IL, knocking Reetz even farther down the catching chart.
The Giants will now have a week to trade Reetz or pass him through waivers. He hit .083/.083/.333 with the Giants in 12 plate appearances and only had two previous major league trips to the plate. Since the start of 2022, he’s hit .254/.356/.537 in the minor leagues. He still has a couple of options and could perhaps appeal to clubs looking for some extra catching depth.
Black being sent down will mean the Giants need another starter at some point. Blake Snell is currently on the paternity list but should be back with the club shortly. He’ll join a rotation that also consists of Logan Webb, Jordan Hicks and Kyle Harrison. They have guys like Kai-Wei Teng and Landen Roupp on the 40-man roster while Spencer Howard is a non-roster option with some major league experience, but they could also consider deploying a bullpen game at some point.
