Key Cubs' offseason addition has gone from complete liability to key contributor

Things couldn't have gone much worse for Ryan Pressly in the first few weeks of his Chicago Cubs' tenure. The former All-Star waived his no-trade clause and approved a deal that took him from the Houston Astros and installed him as Craig Counsell's de facto closer to start the year.

That didn't last long.

Pressly got the job done more often than not, but never in uneventful fashion. Self-inflicted damage was a constant thread in all of his outings and, eventually, it led to Counsell replacing him with Porter Hodge in the ninth inning. Take away one absolutely dreadful outing against the San Francisco Giants in early May when he allowed eight earned runs without recording an out and he's been surprisingly sturdy.

Pressly nailed down the save in Thursday's 3-2 win over the Pirates at Wrigley Field - marking the latest notch in his belt, a string of 13 straight scoreless appearances since that meltdown.

“I think Ryan deserves a ton of credit here for how he’s bounced back,” Counsell said Thursday night. “If you look at his season, he’s had one bad inning and that inning resulted in some changes on our end, and he’s put up zeros ever since."

Ryan Pressly has figured it out - and the Cubs are better off for it

On the year, Pressly carries a respectable 3.81 ERA - and, like Counsell said, you have to give the guy credit. He's played a big part in the Cubs' bullpen emerging as a major strength, a necessary one given the major concerns over the starting rotation: ranging from injuries to Shota Imanaga, Javier Assad and Justin Steele to the inconsistent results from right-hander Ben Brown.

His strikeout rate remains abysmal (16 Ks in 26 innings) - but a scouting report and sitdown with longtime Cubs veteran Ian Happ helped him make some important adjustments and salvage what many immediately chalked up as a major offseason misstep by the Chicago front office.

Pressly's resume and postseason experience speaks for themselves. This is a guy who has a lot to offer any team - especially one with a number of key young arms finding their way in the big leagues. But it's a major bonus that he's turned his season around and become a reliable arm in the pen. Leadership and good clubhouse vibes are nice, but this is a team that needs all hands on deck as they look to maintain their hold on the division heading into the summer months.