Ryan Pressly DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Chicago Cubs closer Ryan Pressly faced eight hitters without recording an out and allowed nine runs (eight earned) in the extra-inning loss to the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night. Pressly had his right knee drained on April 22, which briefly limited his availability. And in recent weeks, the Cubs have used the 36-year-old sparingly, as he's pitched just twice since April 27. "Everything's fine," Pressly said. "Body felt great. Like I said, didn't do my job tonight. Everybody else did." After his poor performance on Tuesday, he has a 7.62 ERA, 1.92 WHIP, five strikeouts and four saves in 13 innings in 2025. Pressly has struck out only five of the 62 batters he's faced so far, which should have fantasy managers plenty worried about his ability to retain the ninth-inning job all year. The Athletic's Patrick Mooney mentions Porter Hodge as a late-inning reliever with more classic swing-and-miss stuff.

Chicago Cubs right-handed reliever Ryan Preslly (kne) played catch on Thursday and is doing so again on Friday before the series opener at Wrigley Field against the visiting Philadelphia Phillies. However, Pressly's availability for Friday's game is still to be determined, according to MLB.com's Jordan Bastian. It's good news that Pressly has played catch the last two days after having his right knee drained on Tuesday, but he might not be available to pitch in a save situation against the Phillies on Friday. Porter Hodge is the likely next man up -- he picked up the save on Wednesday when Pressly was unavailable -- but Hodge has also worked in two of the team's last three games. If both Pressly and Hodge are unavailable on Friday, it could be Julian Merryweather getting the nod in a save situation for the Cubbies if one arises.

Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Ryan Pressly (knee) had his right knee drained on Tuesday night, according to manager Craig Counsell. He hopes for him to be available on Friday. Pressly hasn't pitched since Sunday and was noticeably absent in Wednesday's 7-6 win over the Dodgers, where Porter Hodge picked up his first save of the season. Luckily, the injury doesn't appear to be serious if the Cubs are anticipating a return in a couple of days. He's been solid in the closer role in 2025, posting a 2.45 ERA with four saves through 11 appearances.