MESA, Ariz. – Reliever Ryan Pressly could tell he was out of whack last season. He and the Astros identified the issue early, it was just a matter of finding enough time to address it.
“As a starter, you get four days to work on something,” Pressly said in a conversation with the Sun-Times. “But for a reliever, it’s just like, ‘Alright, let’s not try to do too much, because you might be in the game tonight.’ And, to [pitching coaches Joshua Miller and and Bill Murphy’s] credit, they were trying as hard as they could. It was just probably something that we needed to do in the offseason.”
Pressly still managed a 3.49 ERA, 25 holds and four saves as the Astros setup man last year. And by the time the Cubs traded for Pressly in late January, he was confident he had mostly cleaned up his mechanics.
“Those types of guys,” said Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy, who has known Pressly since he was 19 years old, “that even though they know something is off, can figure out a way to beat you, are the ones that you want to root for.”
The veteran right-hander is expected to be one of relievers manager Craig Counsell calls on in the ninth inning. And to get the best version of Pressly this season, the Cubs hope to pair that ability to compete with a more efficient version of Pressly’s delivery.
“Last year I was kind of cutting myself off and just really landing soft on my front side,” Pressly said. “And I needed to strengthen that up. … You have to lock out that front side, and I wasn’t doing that at all. And my pitches were inconsistent.”
This offseason, he turned to two Houston-based trainers, Ben Fairchild and Kevin Poppe, to tackle the issue. Poppe has also been in the Cubs organization for the past two years and was promoted to head major-league strength and conditioning coach this offseason. They helped Pressly add targeted drills and strengthening exercises to his offseason program.
“Ever since the first bullpen, the stuff has been great,” Hottovy told the Sun-Times. “So he was super excited, like, ‘OK, the stuff I’m working on is translating.’ But the command was off. And so the final piece of that command puzzle was the extra focus on that lead leg. Because when it does get soft, you might have good stuff, but you’re just pulling it with you a little bit.”
In Pressly’s first outing, he said he was happy with the shape of his pitches but not the results. He gave up two hits, a run and a walk against the Rangers last Sunday.
Pressly’s next outing, on Thursday, he cruised through one inning in just eight pitches. Hottovy noted the four fastballs Pressly executed up in the strike zone – the opposite of where he tended to miss when his mechanics were off.
“That was fun to see,” Hottovy said. “That shows me the things that we were focused on progressing are heading in the right direction.”
Pressly, who was the Astros’ closer from 2020 through 2023, has an opportunity with the Cubs that disappeared in Houston when the club signed Josh Hader a year ago.
The Cubs aren’t paying a star closer $95 million over five years. They have Pressly and Porter Hodge, who is coming off an impressive rookie season, as the favorites to take the ball in save situations.
“I’ve done every role under the sun in the bullpen, but I really felt like I got my stride when I was in that ninth-inning role,” Pressly said. “And I’m happy for the opportunity to be back in it. And now, it’s just a matter of seeing what I can do with it.”