Cubs pitching coach believes Pressly needs more work
When Cubs reliever Ryan Pressly took the mound Tuesday evening, his season ERA was a solid 2.08.
After a record-breaking 9-run, 11th inning by the Giants, that ERA soared to 7.62, but the outing was out of character. Pitching coach Tommy Hottovy felt a light workload while Pressly dealt with knee soreness might have caught up with him.
“The best part about Ryan, he was here at 8 o'clock this morning, wanted to go out to the bullpen to do dry work,” Hottovy said. “He was like, 'I didn't sleep anyway, let's get to work,' As a coach, that's a cool place to be.”
Pressly had fluid drained from his right knee on April 22. So between April 20 and Tuesday's game, the right-hander had pitched just two innings over the course of 15 days.
“He's feeling great with the knee,” Hottovy said. “I think what always happens when you have lower body, minor injuries is the mechanics, you form bad habits. Now he's got to work back through all the habits he was compensating for.”
Pressly's strikeout rate has plummeted this season to just 3.5 per nine innings. Three years ago, when he had 33 saves for the Houston Astros, it was 12.1 per nine innings.
Hottovy talked about how there may be a lack of deception in Pressly's delivery and not enough variety of location.
“His ability to get the fastball up in the strike zone (is key),” Hottovy said. “When everything is down in one location, command may be good, but it tends to lead to more contact, foul balls, weak contact, than it does to swing and miss.”
Hottovy's suggested solution is more work and more reps, so Pressly, 36, gets a chance to square away these issues. Because the Cubs have scored so many runs, there haven't been a ton of save opportunities this year. Pressly has 4 of the Cubs' 8 saves and none of the team's 7 blown saves.
Saturday silence:
Cade Horton is the other Cubs pitcher on everyone's mind. Pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said the team has not decided what to do Saturday against the Mets, when Shota Imanaga's spot comes up in the rotation.
Imanaga went on the 15-day injured list Monday with a hamstring strain. Two possibilities are bringing up Horton for his major-league debut or staying in-house with someone like Chris Flexen, who pitched the ninth inning Wednesday.
When is the time right for Horton, who has a 1.24 ERA at Iowa? Hottovy talked about challenging the 2022 first-round pick in spring training to be able to throw his breaking pitches for strikes.
“When he throws his curveball and slider in the zone for strikes early in the count, it's a different animal,” Hottovy said. “That's the type of thing he's going to have to do here to be successful. In the minor leagues, you can throw nasty sliders right out of the gate, and guys might chase them. There are good hitters in this league, and they'll have a plan.”
Horton on hold:
Does it matter which team Cade Horton faces in his MLB debut? It could happen in New York against the Mets. Some have argued it's better to wait for a less successful opponent, like the White Sox next weekend.
“I could also say, starting in Wrigley Field is going to be a big experience for any young pitcher who comes up,” Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said. “So I don't really see a huge difference either way.
“I do think sometimes when guys make their debuts on the road, it's a little less pressure because it's not the full media scrum you would get when you're in Chicago. Big leagues is the big leagues for me. I think no matter who you're facing in your first outing, you're going to be amped up.”