Ryan Pressly allowed eight earned runs without recording a single out on Tuesday night. Yes, the Chicago Cubs' best reliever and closer allowed eight runs without recording a single out in what turned out to be a nine-run extra-inning defeat. Pressly obviously deserves to take on an enormous amount of blame, but the fact that he is their best reliever shows how poor this bullpen really is. Cubs fans would love to make manager Craig Counsell the scapegoat in games blown by the bullpen, but Tuesday's loss shows just how little he's working with in relief.
Would it have been nice for the Cubs to have gotten a bit more out of Colin Rea than they did last night? Sure. Would it have been nice for the Cubs not to have gone 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position? Absolutely. Still, it feels as if no matter what one of the game's best managers does, the Cubs are always in a tough spot late in games because of this bullpen.
Ultimately, that falls on Jed Hoyer and Chicago's front office.
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Cubs offseason blunder could be what ends their season earlier than it should
Hoyer did a lot of things right this offseason. The Kyle Tucker trade, while they gave up a lot for only one guaranteed year of the superstar outfielder, looks like a home run right now. Rotation additions such as Rea and Matthew Boyd have pitched extremely well overall. The bullpen, though, remains a weakness, much like it was last season.
To be fair, Hoyer did try to address it. Prior to Tuesday's blow-up, Pressly was actually pitching well. Caleb Thielbar has been their best left-handed reliever. Ryan Brasier made just one appearance before landing on the IL. Eli Morgan is also sidelined due to injury. With that being said, though, did anyone actually think what Hoyer did was enough?
While Pressly was once an elite closer, he was coming off a very rocky 2024 campaign, was acquired in a salary dump with the Houston Astros, and is now 36 years old. Expecting him to be a lockdown arm was a lot to ask for. Brasier, the second-best arm that Hoyer added, was DFA'd prior to the Cubs landing him. Thielbar signed a cheap one-year deal.
To put it simply, the Cubs did not put enough resources into this bullpen. They did pursue Tanner Scott, but fell short in their pursuit. Other than that, the Cubs cheaped out at a position that is far more important than the organization seems to believe.
Overall, Chicago's bullpen ranks 25th in the majors with a 4.71 ERA. While Counsell might not always push the right buttons, he only has so much to work with. There's only so much he can do. That, once again, falls on the front office for not giving him enough in the bullpen.