Pitcher Spotted at Wrigley Field Solving Bullpen Mystery

Gavin Hollowell was spotted at Wrigley Field on Tuesday, solving the bullpen mystery after Jordan Wicks was optioned to Triple-A Iowa on Monday. Hollowell, 27, pitched in one game for the Cubs at the end of the 2024 season after he was claimed off waivers in August.

The Cubs continue to shuffle up their bullpen and Hollowell will be the latest to get a call up from Triple-A. The right-hander has allowed three earned across 6.1 innings in five games for the Iowa Cubs so far in 2025. However, Hollowell has shown nasty stuff, striking out 10 batters this season, including five strikeouts in two scoreless innings in his last appearance.

The Cubs officially announced the roster move.

Prior to joining the Cubs organization last summer, Hollowell appeared in the majors with the Colorado Rockies in parts of two seasons. The righty spent time in the big leagues in 2022 and 2023 with the Rockies, splitting time between MLB and the minors. Hollowell didn't have much success pitching for Colorado, posting a 6.20 ERA in 40.2 innings with 40 strikeouts.

Hollowell ended the 2024 season with a 1.93 ERA in 9.1 innings with the Iowa Cubs. That stretch included much better command as the reliever posted a 15/4 strikeout to walk ratio in seven outings.

We'll see if Hollowell sticks around for longer than a day. The Cubs are reportedly going to add newly acquired reliever Drew Pomeranz to the bullpen on Wednesday.

(Previous Update)

The Cubs made a trade with the Mariners on Monday, sending cash to Seattle for left-handed pitcher Drew Pomeranz. He'll be up later this week on the active roster, but according to reports the Cubs will do a different roster move ahead of Tuesday's series opener against the Dodgers.

Left-handed pitcher Jordan Wicks was called up on Friday by the Cubs and pitched in two games against the Diamondbacks. He only threw five pitches in Friday's all-time classic at Wrigley Field and then came in to pitch in extra innings on Sunday. Wicks was charged with the loss after allowing two unearned runs in two innings of work in the series finale against Arizona.

On Monday, the Cubs optioned Wicks back to Triple-A. So, the Cubs will add Pomeranz to the bullpen, but that won't be until Wednesday. So, someone else will have to promoted for Tuesday's game and Iowa Cubs beat reporter Tommy Birch may have dropped a hint as to one possibility.

One interesting arm in the @IowaCubs bullpen this season has been righty Gavin Hollowell. He’s got 10 strikeouts across 6.1 innings of work.

Someone to keep an eye on with Chicago constantly looking for relief pitching.

— Tommy Birch (@TommyBirch) April 21, 2025

Gavin Hollowell is on the 40-man roster and is coming off his best appearance of the year at Triple-A. Last Thursday, the right-handed reliever struck out five batters in two perfect innings for the Iowa Cubs.

The Cubs acquired Hollowell off waivers, claiming him from the Diamondbacks last August. The 27-year-old did make one relief outing in the big leagues with the Cubs in 2024, tossing 1.1 scoreless innings against the Phillies on Sept. 23.

So, we'll see who the Cubs call up later today. Then, they'll make another roster move to bring in Pomeranz.