Cubs fans are already panicking about this key offseason addition's rocky start

Thanks to Dansby Swanson's unmatched baseball IQ, the Chicago Cubs escaped with a 4-3 win on Saturday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks, guaranteeing themselves, at a minimum, a split of the four-game weekend series.

The man on the mound in that dramatic ninth inning, veteran Ryan Pressly, isn't winning over many fans in the early going - and his latest appearance already has many of them calling for his removal as closer, just five games into the 2025 regular season.

Pressly threw 29 pitches, finding the zone with just a dozen of them, heavily leaning on his fastball and slider (throwing each 11 times) as he looked to pick up his first save in a Cubs uniform. Like I said, he managed to do it - but the early returns haven't been promising.

Three appearances into his season, he's struck out just 5.9 percent of hitters while walking 23.5 percent - a mark more than three times his career average. He showcased good velocity on the fastball, hitting 94.6 MPH on Saturday, but the results just haven't been there. Frankly, there are pretty much no numbers that paint his body of work to this point in a flattering light. But it's because he's been so bad that I believe there's no way he can keep pitching this poorly. There's one direction to go from here, and it's up.

Cubs fans are quick to jettison struggling players, especially relievers. Coming off last year's failed Hector Neris experiment, Pressly will no doubt be judged through the harshest possible lens, which is unfortunate given his rocky start. But there's no chance Chicago is going to change late-inning roles three appearances into the year, especially given Pressly waived his no-trade clause with the Astros to get another shot to be a closer.

Could Porter Hodge, who has looked electric in his three innings of work, eventually supplant Pressly in the ninth? Absolutely. But expecting Craig Counsell to make such a dramatic change after one weekend of the domestic slate would be a hair-trigger reaction, regardless of the importance of this season. If his struggles continue, Counsell will evaluate his options. But for the time being, Pressly is this team's closer - so let's all take a deep breath and see how he settles in.