Ian Happ is an outfielder, but he might have made a huge impact on the Cubs’ closer situation.
Ryan Pressly, whom the Cubs acquired in an offseason trade with the Astros and who started the season as their ninth-inning man before an extra-inning blow-up early last month against the Giants, seemingly has his hat back in the ring when it comes to getting the final three outs of a tight game.
Pressly picked up his first save since being lifted from the closer’s role in the Cubs’ victory Thursday against the Pirates, then credited Happ with helping him get back on track after that ugly outing against the Giants, in which he gave up nine runs and didn’t get an out.
‘‘Sometimes you get beat pretty bad like that, you kind of go crawl up into a little ball and not say anything or do anything,’’ Pressly said after the game Thursday. ‘‘But if you want to prove yourself, you’ve got to go back out there and just keep proving [to] yourself that you’re good enough. A lot of people have reached out to me: friends, teammates that I played with, teammates that I’ve looked up to, even younger guys. Everybody can have something to say to you. . . . I had Happer write a full report on me, see what a hitter thinks of me.’’
‘‘He’s already got a lot on his plate, trying to get ready for the game, and I added a little bit extra to see if he could help me. And he did. He pulled me off to the side, and he helped me out a lot.
‘‘Hitters have got to prepare for pitchers, too, right? So when I get a report on me, I can kind of see what I’ve been doing and what my tendencies were.’’
It worked. Pressly hasn’t given up a run since that 11th-inning disaster. That’s 14 consecutive scoreless appearances.
Now the question becomes whether the guy the Cubs traded for to be their closer can get back to being their closer.
Really, however, a more appropriate question might be: Does he need to?
The Cubs turned to Porter Hodge in the wake of Pressly’s bad game, but a strained oblique sent him to the injured list, where he remains while working his way back from a hip impingement that has extended his absence. Daniel Palencia has received the bulk of the ninth-inning work with Hodge on the shelf and had sole possession of the team lead in saves with five before Pressly tied him Thursday.
Do the Cubs, chasing a championship, need one, true closer? Or is it all right for manager Craig Counsell to draw from numerous options and decide on who matches up the best in any given situation?
Pressly, for one, doesn’t care whether he’s the go-to closer.
‘‘Whatever opportunity [Counsell] wants to put me in, I just want to help this team win,’’ he said. ‘‘Saving games is fun and cool and stuff, but winning’s a lot more fun for me. I don’t care, really, who’s pitching in the ninth; I just want to win. I want to get back to the postseason. I want to get back to the World Series.’’
The fact that Pressly has been to the Fall Classic before might help make that decision for Counsell when the games start meaning a whole lot more in October. Pressly is 14-for-15 in postseason save chances in his career, including earning a save in the championship-deciding Game 6 of the 2022 World Series.
Cubs fans need only flash back to 2016 and Aroldis Chapman’s rocky postseason for evidence of how quickly closer situations can change. Having options wouldn’t be the worst thing for the Cubs as they try to pull off the same feat they did nine years ago.
Pressly, who had been removed from that list of options after one rough game, seems to be back in the mix.
Thanks, Ian.
‘‘Championship parades are really fun,’’ Pressly said. ‘‘I want to do it again.’’