Cubs circling bounce-back flamethrower certain to bring up painful flashbacks

The Chicago Cubs have made a habit of turning to former Houston Astros relief pitchers to address their need in the bullpen in each of the last two offseasons, with Hector Neris and Ryan Pressly being the team's tentpole additions to the relief core. Each time, the experiments failed, considering neither Neris nor Pressly finished their respective season with the Cubs.

The Cubs already turned to the Houston well once this offseason, signing Phil Maton to a two-year deal, and they may do so again. During the latest episode of Northside Territory, The Athletic's Patrick Mooney reports that the Cubs are expressing interest in hard-throwing reliever Ryne Stanek. Stanek was Maton's teammate with the Astros from 2021 through 2023.

After posting a 1.15 ERA with the Astros in 2022, the veteran right-hander hasn't been able to replicate that success. This past season with the New York Mets, Stanek posted a 5.30 ERA in 65 appearances while striking out under 23% of the hitters he faced.

The dip in Stanek's strikeout rate could be a point of concern, considering his career mark sits at 27.1%. The silver lining is that his fastball velocity remained in the upper-90s, and if the Cubs believe they can get him back to being the swing-and-miss pitch he was during his time with the Astros, he could certainly be a dependable option for Craig Counsell's bullpen.

Cubs' interest in Ryne Stanek does reek of the same hope the team had for Hector Neris and Ryan Pressly.

Considering how the signing of Neris and trade for Pressly backfired, it would be fair to be skeptical that the Cubs can fix what was wrong with Stanek last season. As a whole, the Cubs' pitching infrastructure has been able to fix most of the broken relief pitchers they've been tasked with, but that success wasn't achieved by their additions of former Houston arms.

With the Cubs also having an interest in Ryan Helsley, it would seem that Stanek would be a fallback option. Helsley had his fair share of issues to close out the 2025 season, but his struggles seemed to be tied to the belief he was tipping pitchers. While Helsley likely would cost more than Stanek, his issues may be easier to fix.

Whether it's Helsley, Stanek, or Brad Keller, it would seem that the plan for the Cubs is to add one more established veteran to their bullpen before turning to reclamation projects like they did last season.