The grind of getting back on track can challenge even 13-year big-league veterans such as Ryan Pressly.
The 36-year-old reliever has seen his role evolve during his first two months with the Chicago Cubs, going from taking high-leverage innings and save opportunities to lower-leverage spots to work on his stuff in hopes of reharnessing what had made him successful.
Pressly has thrown better lately, creating his ability to locate and the pitch shape being what he wants. He isn’t satisfied, though. The right-hander believes he still needs to improve his predictability with his pitch sequencing.
“Kind of falling a little bit into a trap but it’s an easy adjustment,” Pressly told the Tribune. “So it’s just more of trying to, unfortunately, you have to see guys kind of trend that way to go back the other way.”
As Pressly has worked through getting the pitch shape and command of his stuff to be where he needs it against hitters this year, trusting the process is a key component.
“You get the same shapes that you need and everything is the same that you need, but you might not get the results that you want, but it’s still a good pitch,” Pressly said “So, it’s just kind of one of those things where you just trust the process and let a couple more outings build up, and then you see where you’re at and then make another adjustment. It’s hard to do.”
In some ways, it might seem an easier path for a veteran to take after having to make adjustments throughout his career to get to that point. It’s still tough, however, even for the most seasoned players to embrace everything the process entails.
“Because you sit there and you’ve seen it so many times,” Pressly said. “And you tell guys when you’re not in the same situation, no, no, just trust the process. When you’re in that situation, it’s kind of like you have to tell yourself that. I don’t know really how to explain it, it’s kind of tough to just sit there and say everything’s fine when everything else around it feels like it’s burning up.”
Manager Craig Counsell has started to give Pressly more chances late in close games. He tossed two-thirds scoreless innings in the eighth of a 3-1 win against the Colorado Rockies on Monday and was called on in the ninth with the game tied Tuesday, tossing a shutout frame in the Cubs’ 4-3 victory in 11 innings.
Since his historically ugly outing May 6 versus the San Francisco Giants when he was tagged for nine runs (eight earned) without retiring any of the eight hitters he faced, Pressly has recorded seven shutout innings spanning seven appearances with three walks and five strikeouts.
He has generated more whiffs, too, tallying 15 swinging strikes during that seven-inning stretch compared with the 13 he produced in his first 13 innings this year. The Cubs will need more of the version they have seen from Pressly in the last three weeks if the bullpen is going to hold up over the next four months and into October.
Pressly has a rule for himself: He’s allowed to stew over a bad outing for 24 hours or until the next game starts, whichever comes first, then he must move on and look forward.
“It’s always a gut check when you go out there and you get beat,” Pressly said. “Some guys can just push it behind them, but for me, it makes me mad. Obviously, I’m a competitor. … But you learn from it. There’s going to be times when you get beat. You’ve just got to tip your cap.”