The Cubs completed a two-game sweep of the Dodgers Tuesday night, winning 7-6. Pete Crow-Armstrong continued his history-making stretch, while the bullpen turned in three shutout innings to secure the victory. Surprisingly, Porter Hodge came in to pitch the ninth inning and recorded his first save of the season.
Hodge looked great, retiring the side in order, which included a filthy strikeout of Shohei Ohtani. Not that Hodge doesn’t have the talent to be the ninth-inning man, but there wasn’t any indication before the game that there was something wrong with Cubs closer Ryan Pressly.
It turns out that he was unavailable to pitch Wednesday night after he had his right knee drained earlier this week.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell told the media after the 7-6 win that Pressly had the minor knee procedure done on Tuesday. The team is hoping that Pressly will be available to pitch by Friday, when the Cubs begin a three-game series against the Phillies.
Pressly didn’t look so sharp early on in the season, but the veteran reliever has looked much better in his last four appearances. The right-hander has only allowed one hit, while walking no batters and striking out four in the past four innings.
You obviously hope that Pressly’s knee will be fine going forward because although the team has had bullpen issues, the high-leverage relievers have gotten into a nice groove. Counsell has been able to utilize Julian Merryweather, Hodge and Pressly in the late innings to close down games this year.
I think we’ve seen this story before though. A surprise issue pops up, the team says it’s optimistic and then all of a sudden that player hits the injured list. This Pressly situation did raise an eyebrow because he has dealt with a similar knee issue in the past.
In 2022, Pressly was placed on the injured list in April because of right-knee inflammation. Seeing that his knee was just drained he’s obviously experiencing discomfort.
So yeah, I won’t truly feel confident that Pressly is ready to go until the game starts on Friday and he’s still on the active roster. However, if the Cubs are forced to put Pressly on the injured list, then you’d still feel good about Hodge at closer.
That being said, the Cubs would once again be down a high-leverage arm in the bullpen. In that case, the Cubs might be close to bringing back Tyson Miller off the injured list.
Miller was great out of the bullpen for the Cubs in 2024, but he began the 2025 season on the IL because of a hip injury. The right-handed pitcher has made three rehab appearances at Triple-A and is seemingly on the verge of being added back to the active roster.
So, just a few things to keep an eye on in the next few days.
