CHICAGO — Ahead of the Cubs’ third series facing the dangerous Los Angeles Dodgers lineup, they moved to bolster their bullpen Monday.

[MORE: Cubs acquire Drew Pomeranz, veteran left-hander, in trade with Mariners]

By trading for Drew Pomeranz from the Seattle Mariners, the Cubs added one more left-handed pitcher in hopes of mixing up a reliever squad that thus far has posted a 5.19 ERA, just 26th-best in MLB. Caleb Thielbar had been the sole southpaw in an eight-man Chicago bullpen.

“We haven’t had a second lefty up here too often, so for (manager) Craig (Counsell), it made a lot of sense,” Cubs president of operations Jed Hoyer said before Tuesday’s meeting with the Dodgers at Wrigley Field.

However, Hoyer denied the move was made in response to upcoming matchups against strong lefty hitters such as Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and the Philadelphia Phillies’ Bryce Harper.

“We’ve talked about getting a second lefty up regardless,” Hoyer said. “Sometimes when you only have one lefty in the bullpen, teams can make out lineups a little bit differently against you.”

Pomeranz, 36, made his MLB debut in 2011 with the Colorado Rockies. He most recently pitched in the big leagues for the San Diego Padres in 2021, when he posted a 1.75 ERA in 25 2/3 innings pitched.

To begin 2025, Pomeranz posted a 4.66 ERA in 9 2/3 innings with the Tacoma Rainiers, Seattle’s Triple-A affiliate. Pomeranz has dealt with throwing arm injuries a few times in his career, but Counsell is confident in what the lefty has shown this season.

“We think Drew is headed in the right direction — that’s what we made the acquisition on,” Counsell said. “His velocity is on a good trajectory right now, and when he’s had the better fastball velocity, he’s had success in this league.”

While Pomeranz is headed to Triple-A Iowa for now, Hoyer hinted at a call-up on the cards soon.

“I think we’ll continue to shuffle the bullpen — it’s the right thing to do,” he said. “We have a number of guys throwing well, so hopefully we’ll hit on some of them.”