Porter Hodge just proved why he should be the Cubs' closer moving forward

Remember when the Chicago Cubs were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Tokyo Series in mid-March? That feels like a distant memory - especially after watching Craig Counsell's club scratch and claw its way to a two-game series sweep of the reigning champs at Wrigley Field this week.

The offense - which tallied 18 runs in the short series - is rightfully receiving the bulk of the credit. But don't look past the work of Porter Hodge who, appearing in back-to-back games, absolutely carved up Dodgers hitters, including locking down the save in Tuesday's one-run 7-6 victory.

Hodge blew through the likes of Austin Barnes, Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts in the top of the ninth, picking up his first save of the season. He made the reigning unanimous NL MVP look silly with an absolutely devastating slider to close out the at-bat for the second out of the inning.

The big question, though, is why no Ryan Pressly? The veteran right-hander hasn't pitched since Sunday and, in a one-run game (and save situation) Tuesday, Counsell went with Hodge. Heading into spring training, the ninth-inning job was reportedly up for grabs, but given Pressly waived his no-trade clause to get the chance to close again, it felt like a foregone conclusion he'd be the guy.

We got an answer to that shortly after the game. According to Counsell, Pressly recently had his knee drained and could be available again as soon as Friday. This is definitely something to keep an eye on - as an IL stint could further destabilize an already-sporadic Cubs bullpen - and even if he avoids an IL stint, I wonder if Hodge making the most of the opportunity could shake up the pecking order in the late inning.

Porter Hodge continues to show why he should be the Cubs' closer

At surface level, he's been fine. Eleven appearances, four saves and a 2.45 ERA. But a 4.94 FIP, 1.636 WHIP and 0.83 K/BB ratio paint a very different picture - and you know Counsell is well aware of that fact. Given just how good Hodge looked in Tuesday's dramatic come-from-behind win, it's not hard to see why he was comfortable turning to the 24-year-old again on Wednesday.

Hodge looks absolutely dialed in on the mound, aggressively attacking hitters with his fastball-slider combo and picked up his first save of the season that also gave the Cubs the regular season series victory - a surprising turn of events after getting swept in Japan. Chicago takes the season series four games to three as they continue their April onslaught.

At least for one night, Hodge was the closer. And, more importantly, he showed us all why he should have the job moving forward as the Cubs look to continue a strong start to the 2025 campaign.