If there was ever a perfect time to be faced with the hard realization that your team has a problem, this is it. With two days until the trade deadline, Chicago Cubs reliever Ryan Pressly's struggles continued in dramatic fashion, with the veteran serving up a back-breaking grand slam to Andrew Vaughn in the middle innings of Tuesday's 9-3 loss.
The homer raised Pressly's ERA on the year to 4.35 - and an unsightly 5.65 over his last 15 appearances. Opponents are hitting .288 against the 36-year-old, the highest mark of his big-league career. After shaking off early-season struggles that quickly cost him the closer's job, Pressly's role on this team once again feels very much up in the air as Jed Hoyer looks to make major additions in the next 48 hours.