The return address on the package sitting on Ryan Rolison’s chair in the Cubs’ clubhouse? San Francisco 49ers.
Inside were two NFL footballs, and a note from the 49ers equipment manager, Jeff Gilbert.
When the Cubs were in San Francisco three weeks ago, Gilbert was in the stands when a couple of Cubs pitchers, including Rolison, were throwing around a football. Gilbert was wearing an Ole Miss sweatshirt, which is where the left-hander played his college baseball.
“He was, like, calling my name,’’ Rolison said.
Rolison walked over to the railing, Gilbert introduced himself, and In exchange for an autographed baseball, he sent the left-handed reliever the footballs.
Pays to be nice? “Pays to be a Cub,’’ Rolison said.
Rolison’s father, Gary, was a walk-on quarterback at the University of Memphis. “I love football,”” said Ryan, who played football as a high school freshman then gave it up for baseball. “I grew up around the game. My dad kind of taught me how to throw a football.’’
Rolison and other Cub pitchers throw a football around during pregame work.
“I just love going out and throwing it,’’ he said. “I think it’s a good warmup for the shoulder, and just good for moving around and being athletic.’’
It was in the middle of football season last fall, Nov. 18, when Ryan Rolison learned he no longer had a big-league job with the Colorado Rockies, the team that drafted him on the first round in 2018. The Rockies had watched as Rolison endured a series of physical calamities — a fractured finger when struck by a line drive in the outfield during batting practice, two shoulder surgeries that required 2½ years of rehab, and an appendectomy.
He did not make it to the big leagues until 2025, when he was 27 years old, seven long years after he had been drafted. He pitched mostly in a mop-up role for the Rockies. After the season, they took him off their 40-man roster, which set off a domino series of moves in which he became the property of the Braves, White Sox and finally the Cubs, who claimed him off waivers on the day he and his fiancee, Lauren, were flying to Chicago to be married. That all happened in the span of 50 days.
Rolison began this season in the minors, then was called up by the Cubs on April 14 when Ethan Roberts fractured his finger in a freak accident. At the time of his promotion, Rolison had one big-league win to his name, and no reason to believe his stay in Chicago would be a long one.
With big-league teams shuttling their relievers back and forth from the minors like rush-hour commuters, job security can evaporate with a couple of bad outings. But after nearly three months with the Cubs, Rolison, the former first-rounder, has won the trust of manager Craig Counsell, who hasn’t hesitated to call upon him in high-leverage situations.
Maybe equally important, he has pitched as well as he thought he would, if only given the chance.
“I think that’s anyone at this level,’’ Rolison said. “I feel like last year I viewed the big leagues as almost like I had to prove to myself that I was good enough. And now I have the confidence, because I’ve seen myself do it in big situations and against good lineups … and now it’s like I expect myself to go out there and have success and be dominant.’’
Rolison has a 5-1 record, most wins of any Cubs reliever. Last week, against the Padres, he earned his first big-league save. He has thrown the third-most innings out of the Cubs’ bullpen, behind only Jacob Webb and Hoby Milner, who last week went on the injured list after an attack of appendicitis. He has 33 strikeouts in 33⅓ innings, and opponents’ on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS) against him is just .644. Only Ben Brown (.497) has an lower opponents’ OPS.
Until Sunday, when he was charged with two runs when he gave up two singles ahead of Jordan Walker’s three-run home run off Tyler Ferguson, Rolison had allowed just one earned run in 17 appearances dating back to May 20, an 0.44 ERA (1 ER in 20 IP).
“I’m just throwing the ball with a ton of confidence,’’ he said, “and it’s been a lot of fun.’’
