CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs today agreed to terms with left-handed pitcher Drew Smyly on a two-year major league contract with a mutual option for 2025. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. To make room for Smyly on the 40-man roster, right-handed pitcher Erich Uelmen has been designated for assignment.
Smyly, 33, has played all or part of nine major league seasons with Detroit (2012-14), Tampa Bay (2014-16), Texas (2019), Philadelphia (2019), San Francisco (2020), Atlanta (2021) and the Cubs (2022) pitching to a career 53-47 record with a 4.10 ERA (430 ER/943.2 IP) in 239 games (156 starts). He was selected by Detroit in the second round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft.
The six-foot two-inch Smyly last season went 7-8 with a 3.47 ERA (41 ER/106.1 IP) in 22 starts with the Cubs. He posted a 0.90 ERA (3 ER/30.0 IP) with a 2-1 mark in five August starts after missing time on the injured list from May 31-July 10 with a right oblique strain. His 0.90 ERA was tied for second-lowest among qualified major league pitchers in August. Smyly allowed two or fewer runs in eight of his final nine starts beginning August 6, pitching to a 2.28 ERA (12 ER/47.1 IP) in that stretch which saw him limit opponents to a .205 average, a .257 OBP and a .335 slugging mark.
Smyly made his major league debut, April 12, 2012 against Tampa Bay as a member of the Detroit Tigers. He went 16-12 with a 3.53 ERA (110 ER/280.2 IP) in 107 games (36 starts) across parts of three seasons with Detroit, before he was traded to Tampa Bay, July 31, 2014 as part of a three-team, five-player deal involving left-handed pitcher David Price.
In 2016 with the Rays, Smyly set career marks in starts (30), innings pitched (175.1) and strikeouts (167). He missed the entire 2017 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. The lefthander signed with the Cubs prior to the 2018 season while recovering from the surgery and was traded to Texas in November of 2018.
In his lone season with Atlanta in 2021, Smyly notched a career-high 11 wins, en route to his first World Series championship. He was one of three Braves pitchers with 10-plus wins and one of four to start 20-plus games, going 11-4 with a 4.48 ERA (63 ER/126.2 IP). Smyly appeared in three postseason games for Atlanta, earning his second career playoff victory in game four of the NLCS vs. the Dodgers (2 ER/3.1 IP).
Smyly was born in Little Rock, Ark., graduated from Little Rock Central High School (Ark.) in 2007 and pitched for three seasons at the University of Arkansas.
Uelmen, 26, made his major league debut last season with Chicago, going 2-1 with one save, three holds and a 4.67 ERA (14 ER/27.0 IP) in 25 relief appearances. He was selected by the Cubs in the fourth round of the 2017 Draft out of Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
