Is It Time To Press The Panic Button On Ryan Pressly?

Chicago made a pair of deals with Houston in the offseason. One landed the Cubs Kyle Tucker, who has been sensational so far this season. The other saw the Cubs scoop up Ryan Pressly, and he was quickly anointed as the closer in Chicago.

The Cubs rode a roller coaster every time Hector Neris toed the rubber last season in an attempt to close out a game. It wasn't a fun roller coaster ride either, but instead, the kind that gives you whiplash and makes you nauseous. Chicago never figured out how to hammer down the final inning of a close game, even after releasing Neris. It was one of the key reasons the team failed to make the playoffs.

This offseason, the team addressed the issue by brining over Pressly. So far, at least, the results haven't been very reassuring.

Pressly struggled for large portions of the 2024 season, when he saw his strikeout percentage dip for a third year in a row while his walk percentage climbed to its highest mark since 2020. Put a cherry on top with Pressly having the second-highest barrel percentage of his career, and you get a guy who looked more like a middle-reliever than a lockdown closer. Many wanted to chalk those struggles up to a change in role following his demotion to a set-up man; some guys are just better when the pressure of the ninth inning is on their shoulders.

Well, Pressly is back as a closer in Chicago and... the numbers are pretty unsightly. According to Baseball Savant, Pressly is in the 10th percentile in chase rate, ninth percentile in whiff rate and third percentile in strikeout rate. To sum it up: Batters aren't chasing, they aren't whiffing and they aren't striking out with Pressly on the bump.

In a day and age where there are flamethrowers slamming the door in the ninth inning like Emmanuel Clase, Edwin Diaz, Jhoan Duran, Ryan Helsley, Mason Miller and countless others, that's not Pressly's strength anymore. Being able to light up a radar gun isn't the only way to record outs late in a game, though. The problem is what Pressly has in his bag of tricks isn't working as an alternative.

The slider in particular has been a problem. When looking at location the last few seasons via Baseball Savant, Pressly has been a maestro at painting corners with his slider. This year, and yes the sample size is small, the slider has been put on a platter and delivered across the middle of the plate far more often. What's worrisome is that the slider isn't some tertiary option for Pressly in his arsenal. Instead, it's one of his primary, go-to pitches—he throws it 29% of the time, second only to his fastball.

It'd be one thing if this was popping up once in a while early on in the season, and if you're a glass half-full person, maybe you're inclined to believe it'll just take a bit for Pressly to ramp up.

But the issue hasn't been in a couple of outings—it's been in almost every outing that Pressly has struggled. In seven appearances this year, Pressly hasn't had one clean sheet. He's allowed at least one hit in six of seven outings, and in the one he didn't allow a hit, he walked the bases loaded. In seven innings in 2025, Pressly has two strikeouts and six walks.

That's just not sustainable for any closer, and certainly not for a team in the Cubs who are desperately trying to get back to the postseason. Manager Craig Counsell spoke reassuringly about Pressly at the end of March and during the series in Arizona where Pressly was bailed out by a heads up play by shortstop Dansby Swanson to clinch a win for the Cubs.

"Things aren’t always going to go your way in baseball. Pressly’s been doing this for a long time — he’s had a lot of success in this league, so I’m not too worried about his stuff."

It's true that it would be too early to pull the plug now. Plus, who would the Cubs even pivot to? Porter Hodge?

What can't be ignored though is that there are clear signs early on that would indicate things aren't going well for Pressly, and it's likely they wont drastically improve anytime soon. If you're worried about the closer spot in Chicago for the umpteenth year in a row, it's justified.