Cubs Shake the Baseball World: Chicago Makes Bold Decision to Move On From Two-Time All-Star in Roster Shakeup
While the Chicago Cubs’ offseason trade for Kyle Tucker has paid immediate dividends in powering the league’s best offense, their other winter deal with the Houston Astros has not been as fruitful.
Looking to shore up a suspect back of the bullpen, the Cubs acquired two-time All-Star Ryan Pressly in exchange for minor leaguer Juan Bello. Since breaking out with the Minnesota Twins in 2016, Pressly has been among the game’s steadiest relievers, posting an ERA below 4.00 in every season but one and never posting a BB/9 above 3.0. Even as his strikeout rate dipped as he entered his mid-30s, Pressly remained a valuable set-up man for closer Josh Hader, turning in a 3.49 ERA and a 3.10 FIP in 2024.
Though the Cubs could have expected some regression in his age-36 season, it’s safe to say that nobody expected Pressly’s performance to plummet this fast. He currently has a 7.62 ERA and, perhaps most concerning, has just five strikeouts against eight walks. The low point came early this week against the San Francisco Giants in which he allowed eight runs without recording an out.
With a fastball that has lost nearly a mile-and-a-half from just two years ago and a slider that is inducing whiffs at just a 12% clip (compared to 31% a year ago), Pressly simply isn’t fooling anybody, and his 8.1% strikeout rate is the second-lowest out of the 370 pitchers with at least ten innings pitched. Given the Cubs have a championship-caliber offense and sit with a three-game lead in the National League Central, they can’t afford to keep giving high-leverage innings to such an ineffective pitcher, and ESPN’s David Schoenfield believes that Pressly may not be long for the closer’s role.
“The lack of strikeouts and swing-and-misses is alarming,” wrote Schoenfield. “The rest of the Chicago bullpen hasn’t exactly been locking it down either as it ranks 28th in win probability — but, at this point it’s hard to envision Pressly remaining the closer unless he can improve his strikeout rate.”
As Schoenfield points out, the Cubs would have likely already made a change if they had another viable ninth-inning option. The most likely candidate is Porter Hodge, a 24-year-old right-hander with explosive stuff who posted a 1.88 ERA last season. Hodge’s 2025 numbers are inflated by a singular disaster against the Diamondbacks, but he has turned in seven straight scoreless outings since then. If he continues to throw strikes and induce soft contact at a league-leading rate, the Cubs will have no choice but to make the move at closer.
