Ryan Pressly’s loss on May 6 weighed on him, but it didn’t affect his performance on the field. The Chicago Cubs reliever just picked up his fifth save of the season, and he thanks one player in particular for helping him get out of a funk. Pressly had been lights out since coming to Chicago, but one of the Cubs’ veterans really helped him prevent a slump after a nightmare appearance against the San Francisco Giants.
Ian Happ Wrote Up a Report on Ryan Pressly
In his ninth season in Chicago, Happ is one of the most iconic Cubs players of the last decade. He is a three-time Gold Glove Award winner and was named an All-Star for the first time in his career back in 2022. While his numbers may not be off the charts, he has a sharp mind for baseball and was a huge help as Pressly maintained his composure and got back into the right mindset.
On May 6, Ryan Pressly gave up 9 R/8 ER.
After that, Pressly asked Ian Happ to write up a report on him – he wanted to know what hitters were thinking against him.
Pressly has not given up an ER since: pic.twitter.com/UAICX1y6ks
— Elise Menaker (@EliseMenaker) June 13, 2025
“I’m always open-minded and I love talking about baseball and seeing what other people think or would do in that situation, I had Happ write a full report on me and see what a hitter thinks on me and things like that. I’m super thankful for my teammates helping me in a really bad situation, I guess,” Pressly said.
“He’s already got a lot on his plate and I added a little bit extra to see if he could help me, and he did. He pulled me off to the side and helped me a lot. Hitters prepare for pitchers too, so when I get a report on me I can kind of see what my tendencies are. I got a little happy on one pitch in particular and now we just have to mix everything in.
“You have to be humble in this game or you’re going to get humbled. I got humbled in front of the Cubs faithful and all of MLB… You just have to take that and build a good routine so you can be better.”
Knowing that one pitch may have been thrown too often in the Giants game, Pressly could return to his coaches and mix things up more. In his first 13 appearances of the season, the 36-year-old had given up just 12 hits and three earned runs.
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Having pitched a full inning in every appearance, Pressly was stunned as he couldn’t record a single out against the Giants, at home no less. San Francisco got to Pressly, and it got him bad. The team recorded five hits on 26 pitches, good for nine runs, with eight being earned.
This performance gave Pressly his second loss of the season, with the only other being to the San Diego Padres. Since that game and Happ’s report, Pressly has once again been phenomenal. The 2022 World Series Champion has only given up 12 hits in 14 appearances and has yet to give up a run.
On June 12, Pressly picked up his first save since April 13 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. His ERA is still recovering from May 6 as it sits at 3.81, his highest mark since 2017.