Does Cubs Reliever Ryan Pressly Have a Path Back to the Closer's Job?

When the Chicago Cubs traded for relief pitcher Ryan Pressly in January, there was an agreement in place that Pressly was coming over to be the closer. It was a risk on Chicago's end, in a sense, because Pressly hadn't closed since 2023 and his numbers in 2024 indicated a reliever who could be on the decline.

As the Cubs have ridden the roller coaster with Pressly so far in 2025 and have demoted him away from the closer spot, how should he fit into the picture the rest of the way?

Pressly's season started with a hint of how things would eventually look two months later. In Tokyo, against the Los Angeles Dodgers in March, Pressly walked the bases loaded in his first appearance as a Cub but was able to wiggle out of it without allowing any damage. Through his next two appearances, both against Arizona, Pressly would allow a combined six hits, three runs and just one strikeout in two innings. The full implosion occurred a little more than a month after those two outings. 

In an appearance against San Francisco on May 6, Pressly didn't record a single out, while yielding nine runs to blow open an extra-inning game. However, since that outing (and his full-fledged demotion from the closer spot), Pressly has strung together five consecutive appearances without allowing a run.

After Pressly lost the closer gig, manager Craig Counsell explained the decision while appearing on 670 The Score.

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"We let him know that the roles were going to change for a period of time, and then you kind of go to work on trying to help him improve on some things,” Counsell said. “And that doesn’t happen overnight, but hopefully we’ve started that process, and hopefully making some strides for progress there."

When asked if Pressly could return to the closer role later in the season, Counsell provided some optimism.

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“We’d like to get him (Pressly) back to the back of the game,” Counsell said. “We got to tell him the news. You’ve got to tell him what’s going on. You got to be honest with him and direct with him, and then go to work on trying to make improvements."

If we're calling a spade a spade, that may have been a little bit of coddling done by Counsell, and rightfully so. He's not going to come out and bash Pressly and laugh at the idea of him reclaiming the closer role this year. The reality of the situation tells the story itself, and that speaks to a relief pitcher who doesn't have the same stuff he once did. The numbers just don't indicate a pitcher who should return to the closer role anytime soon.

Last year in Houston, Pressly saw huge dips in his chase percentage, whiff percentage, and (naturally) strikeout percentage, while he saw an uptick in the wrong categories such as his walk percentage and the amount of barrels getting to his pitches, according to Statcast.

Chicago knew there was a risk in investing in a 36-year-old who was showing signs of slowing down. Those numbers have dwindled even further in 2025. Pressly's whiff percentage is in the 8th percentile in all of baseball. His strikeout percentage is in the second percentile, while his hard-hit percentage rests in the third percentile. No matter how you want to slice up the pie, Pressly is a pitcher whom the Cubs can ill afford to use in big moments.

For the time being, Chicago would be best suited to use Pressly in low-leverage spots that aren't in the last couple of innings. Even if he piles up scoreless outings, if the more important numbers aren't showing rapid improvement, it should stay that way.

Yes, Pressly hasn't allowed a run in his last five appearances. Only one of them, an outing where he needed to record just one out against Miami on May 13, was a clean appearance for Pressly, where he didn't allow at least one baserunner.

For the box score hunter, seeing Pressly go five in a row without allowing a run seems really good, and the goal is to get the outs however you can. When you put his recent work under a microscope, though, the indicators aren't quite as encouraging.

With Porter Hodge on the shelf due to an oblique strain, Counsell and the Cubs may have to go with a committee to slam the door in the ninth innings of games. They've started the process by flirting with Daniel Palencia in the role. To put it bluntly, Pressly shouldn't be under consideration at this point in time.

The hope for the Cubs should be that Pressly turns the corner, to the point where he can be used in the middle innings of a close game. The thought of him becoming the full-time closer again seems far-fetched, with options like Hodge, Brad Keller and Palencia on the roster. Trading for a proven closer is certainly on the table for the Cubs come the trade deadline, too.

All isn't lost for Pressly, and he can still flip the switch and be a valuable part of the bullpen in 2025. The days of him being a closer may be gone, but that doesn't mean there isn't gas left in the tank for him to pitch some meaningful innings—if he can right the wrongs.