How Will Cubs Bullpen Take Shape With Ryan Pressly?

The Chicago Cubs had been looking for some veteran, backend bullpen help. They finally managed to add that with the acquisition of 36-year-old Ryan Pressly.

The deal between the Cubs and the Houston Astros, which became official Tuesday morning, sent Pressly to Chicago after he agreed to waive his no-trade clause (which he had due to his 10-and-5 rights). The return to Houston was 20-year-old, lower-level minor league pitcher Juan Bello. The Cubs designated Matt Festa for assignment to make room for Pressly on the 40-man roster.

In addition, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported Sunday the Cubs are paying just $8.5 million of the $14 million owed to Pressly in 2025.

All in all, not a bad deal for a World Series champion closer and a two-time All-Star. However, that’s not to say he doesn’t come to the Cubs without concerns.

As the Astros’ closer from 2020-2023, Pressly had the fourth-most saves (102) among all big-league relievers. He had a 2.99 ERA, a 1.02 WHIP, a 31.5 percent walk rate and a 6.2 percent walk rate. There was plenty to like about him in that closer’s role.

But shifting to a setup role last year after Houston acquired Josh Hader might’ve contributed to Pressly’s numbers taking a hit — though there was a drop beginning even before Hader entered the picture.

Pressly’s strikeout rate has seen a steep decline. Last year, it was at 23.8 percent, down from 27.6 percent in 2023. That fell even further from a career-high 35.7 percent in 2022.

Factoring into that drop is a whiff rate that sat at 26.9 percent in 2024. That was down from 31.4 percent in 2023, itself a fall from a career-high 38.7 percent in 2022. Pressly’s WHIP also rose to 1.34 last year, and his average fastball velocity fell to 93.8 mph.

Despite a dip in some numbers, he still managed a 3.49 ERA and a 3.10 FIP last season. His metrics still looked good on his breaking pitches. It wasn’t a “bad” season for him by any means.

He’s also still the guy who was instrumental in Houston’s 2022 World Series run, allowing only one unearned run in 10 postseason appearances that year while going 6-for-6 in save opportunities (including the title-clinching save).

Pressly has overall been a very reliable postseason performer. In 45 1/3 innings across 47 appearances, he owns a 4:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (60 to 15), he’s posted a 2.78 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP and he’s locked down 14 of 15 save opportunities.

Now, Pressly feels back on track

He said during his introductory press conference Wednesday (via Zoom) that he battled mechanical issues last year. He was “constantly trying to figure out how to get back to my old self.” Those issues factored into his uneven season and another drop in some numbers from ’23 to ’24.

This offseason, Pressly has been working with Kevin Poppe at Dynamic Sports Training in Houston. Pressly estimates Poppe, who the Cubs named their head major league strength and conditioning coach in December, has helped him clean up about 98 percent of the mechanical problems. He hasn’t been able to throw to hitters yet, but he said his arm feels good.

“I still feel like I’m in pretty good shape,” Pressly said. “I still think that my stuff plays at an elite level.

That’s good news, because anyone paying attention knows the Cubs have needed more consistent, dependable late-innings arms.

The relief corps as a whole blew 26 saves last season (tied for the eighth-most in baseball). Beyond that, from the seventh inning on, many of the bullpen’s stats were middle-of-the-pack at best. Those marks also dropped when it came to high-leverage situations in those innings.

So, picking up Pressly means picking up someone they should be able to immediately stick into the backend of the bullpen. He’s got a reputation as a reliable performer in that spot. That’s exactly what the Cubs need.

He hasn’t been handed the closer’s job, though. The Cubs told him he’d “close some games,” but he expects to go into spring training competing for the ninth-inning role.

Regardless of what his job ultimately is, he’s just looking to come through in the late innings and help his new team win ballgames.

“Whatever happens is going to happen,” Pressly said. “If they think that I can pitch in that ninth-inning role or the eighth-inning role, my job is just to go get three outs, four outs, five outs — doesn’t matter. I just want to go do my job and be able to bring a win to the team and just help everybody be successful. … Whether it be in the ninth-inning role or the eighth-inning role, it doesn’t matter to me. I just want to win.

Who is he joining in the Cubs’ bullpen?

The relief group looks a lot different than it did heading into last season. Of the eight Opening Day relievers, only two are still in the organization.

This offseason, the Cubs have added a number of arms to try to give manager Craig Counsell the kind of depth they lacked early last season. With that, though, there currently isn’t a ton of flexibility.

Pressly is out of minor-league options, of course. The other option-less relievers on the 40-man roster include Julian Merryweather, Caleb Thielbar, Tyson Miller, Keegan Thompson and Rob Zastryzny (Festa was on the list before he got DFA’d). That means, as currently constructed, there would only be two bullpen spots up for grabs on the active roster.

We could see another move like the Festa DFA to open room there, but until that happens, who would be the top options to fill the Cubs’ relief openings?

Porter Hodge became the de facto closer by last season’s end, picking up nine saves and posting a 1.88 ERA. He could’ve been the closer to begin this year if they didn’t acquire Pressly or make another addition. There’s obviously a solid chance he makes the Opening Day roster for the first time.

“He had an unbelievable year, put up great numbers,” Pressly said. “I think we’re going to be a pretty dynamic duo in the backend of the bullpen.”

There are some other relievers with options on the 40-man. Nate Pearson earned Counsell’s trust after the Cubs added him at the trade deadline. Eli Morgan (acquired via trade in November) was a contributor in a dominant Cleveland Guardians bullpen in 2024.

Luke Little flashed his potential before his season ended due to a shoulder injury in July. There are a number of other young arms like him who will get opportunities this season.

But there’s another wrinkle to the bullpen puzzle

Of course, figuring it all out isn’t as simple as just plugging in a pair of players currently in the relief group. The Cubs will also have to consider guys who don’t make the rotation.

Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd are essentially locked in as starters. Colin Rea could very well take the No. 5 starter spot. That would leave the likes of Javier Assad, Ben Brown and Jordan Wicks on the outside looking in.

Now, the three of them do still have options remaining. They could all be optioned to Triple-A and stay stretched out as starters. But keeping at least one around as a long-relief arm could be beneficial, too.

Clearly, the Cubs have a bunch of routes to fill out the ‘pen. They obviously don’t have to make any decisions now, and injuries or other moves might help clear things up anyway. By the time they head to Tokyo to play their first regular-season games against the Los Angeles Dodgers in mid-March, this group could look pretty different.

So, this should be an interesting group to monitor heading into spring training.

“I’m excited to work with all these guys,” Pressly said, “because I see a lot of talent in that bullpen and a lot of guys that have a lot of explosive stuff that can really contribute to us winning. If we know how to use it and use it the right way, I think this could be a really, really good team that can go deep in the playoffs.”