Boston Red Sox (2007–2012) The
Boston Red Sox selected Pressly in the 11th round, 354th overall, of the
2007 MLB draft. Initially working as a
starting pitcher in the Red Sox' in
minor league system, he converted to a
relief pitcher in 2012. In his first season as a relief pitcher for the
Portland Sea Dogs of the
Class AA Eastern League, he compiled a 2.93
earned run average (ERA) with 21
strikeouts in
innings pitched (IP). Pressly made the Twins'
Opening Day roster. He made his major league debut on April 4, pitching a scoreless inning, in which he struck out
Torii Hunter. Pressly appeared in 49 games, going 3–3 with 3.87 ERA and 49 strikeouts in innings of work. In
2014, Pressly began the season with the
Rochester Red Wings, the Twins Triple-A affiliate, before being called up on July 23. He made 25 relief appearances, going 2–0 with a 2.86 ERA. To start the
2015 season, Pressly once again began with
Rochester, before being recalled on April 28. On July 4, Pressly suffered a
lat muscle strain, putting him on the 15-day
disabled list, and after suffering a setback during rehab on August 17, Pressly was ruled out for the remainder of the year. On the season, Pressly made 27 appearances, going 3–2 with a 2.93 ERA. In
2016, Pressly was primarily used as a
middle reliever and
setup man. On July 31, Pressly recorded his first major league
save in a 6–4 win against the
Chicago White Sox. For the year, Pressly appeared in 72 games (4th-most in the AL), compiling a 6–7 record with a 3.70 ERA with 67 strikeouts in innings. In
2017, Pressly remained a middle reliever and setup man. However, through the first 3 months of the season, he struggled, going 1–2 with a 9.50 ERA in just 18 innings. Due to his struggles, Pressly was optioned to the minors on June 6, and was recalled on June 29. After his recall from the minors, Pressly returned to his prior form, compiling a 1–1 with a 2.75 ERA with 35 strikeouts in innings. For the season, he was 2–3 with a 4.70 ERA in 57 relief appearances. During the
2018 season, the Twins continued to maintain Pressly in the role of middle reliever and setup man. He made 51 appearances, finishing with a 1–1 record with a 3.40 ERA with 69 strikeouts in innings for the Twins.
Houston Astros 2018–2019 The Twins traded Pressly to the
Houston Astros for minor leaguers
Jorge Alcalá and
Gilberto Celestino on July 27, 2018. In 26 regular season games pitched with the Astros, Pressly posted a 0.77 ERA and walked only three batters. Houston's focus on analytics was largely credited for his post-trade success. The Astros analytics department had noted that Pressly had elite
spin rates on his
curveball and
slider, and recommended that he throw them more often. In the
2018 postseason, his first, Pressly made two appearances in the
American League Division Series (ALDS) versus the
Cleveland Indians and three more in the
American League Championship Series (ALCS) versus the
Red Sox. He tossed 5 innings, faced 20 batters, and allowed one run on one hit, with three walks, .259
on-base plus slugging (OPS) against, and struck out 7. He collected 3
holds as the Red Sox ended the Astros' season in the ALCS in five games. Before the
2019 season, Pressly signed a two-year contract extension with the Astros worth $17.5 million. On May 17, Pressly broke
Craig Kimbrel's major league record with his 39th consecutive scoreless appearance, dating back to August 10, 2018. The streak reached 40 games before he allowed a run on May 24. For the 2019 season, Pressly was 2–3 with three saves and a 2.32 ERA in 55 relief appearances in which he pitched innings and struck out 72 batters (11.9 per 9 innings), and tied for the major league lead in holds (31). In the
2019 postseason, Pressly made 10 total appearances, including two in the
ALDS (
Tampa Bay Rays), four in the
ALCS (
New York Yankees), and four more in the
World Series (
Washington Nationals), going 1–0 with 1 hold. He struggled, allowing 7 earned in runs in innings (11.12 ERA), .429/.484/.464/.948 OPS against, .546
batting average on balls in play (BABIP), and struck out 6 of 32 batters. Conversely, seven of the ten outings were scoreless, he surrendered 0 home runs and just a 2.88 FIP rate. Pressly was selected for the second time in his Astros tenure to the
All-Star Game, played at
Coors Field. When his selection was announced, he had not allowed an earned run in 12 consecutive appearances, leading to a 1.54 ERA over 35 innings and a 4–1 record. He tied for first in the AL in save percentage (93.3%), and among relief pitchers in the AL, was third in ERA, fourth in WHIP (0.83) and he had tied for fifth in with 14 saves. On September 23, Pressley completed a scoreless ninth in his 60th appearance of the season to seal a 9–5 victory versus the
Los Angeles Angels, concluding the final condition for his contract for 2022 to fully vest, guaranteeing him a $10 million salary. Since being acquired by Houston at the 2018 trade deadline, Pressly had produced a 2.19 ERA, 0.924 WHIP, and saved 42 games in innings. He had converted 25 of 27 save chances on the season.
2022 Pressly and the Astros agreed to terms on a new two-year contract extension on April 5,
2022. With $30 million guaranteed, it covered the 2023 and 2024 seasons, with an option for 2025. On May 29, Pressly earned a save after inducing a ground ball hit by
Luis Torrens for a game-ending, bases-loaded
double play to preserve a 2–1 win versus the
Seattle Mariners. On June 5, Pressly was ejected in the ninth inning after throwing inside to
Michael A. Taylor of the
Kansas City Royals. On June 23, Pressly gave up four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to the
New York Yankees, including the go-ahead run delivered by
Aaron Judge's walk-off single. On June 25, Pressly closed out a combined
no-hitter versus the Yankees by earning the save in a 3–0 win. Led by starter
Cristian Javier's seven innings,
Héctor Neris also pitched in the eighth inning. It was the 14th no-hitter in Astros history, and first at
Yankee Stadium since
2003, also an Astros' combined no-hitter. On July 3, Pressly earned the win (2–2) by closing out a walk-off 4–2 victory over the
Los Angeles Angels in which Astros pitchers struck out 20 batters to establish a franchise record in a nine inning contest. Starter
Framber Valdez (first six innings), Neris (7th), and
Rafael Montero (8th) all preceded Pressly, who, in the ninth,
struck out the side. On July 17 versus the
Oakland Athletics, Pressly again struck out the side in the ninth inning to tie the Astros' franchise record with 27 consecutive batters retired by a reliever, first achieved by
Dave Giusti in
1965. Pressly's streak occurred over eight straight outings. Presley then retired the Mariners in order in the ninth on July 24 to pass Giusti. In the July 28 game, Presley retired the first two batters in the ninth to reach 32 before surrendering a single to
J. P. Crawford, which tied teammate
Justin Verlander (2019) for most batters retired in a row among all pitchers in Astros history. On August 25, the Astros placed Pressly on the 10-day injury due to neck spasms. On September 9, the Astros activated him from the injured list. That day, he surrendered a solo home run in the ninth inning to
Taylor Ward before closing a 4–3 win over the Angels for the save. In the season finale versus
Philadelphia Philles on October 5, Pressly secured his 33rd save, extending a career-high. It was his 76th save as an Astro, tying him with
Fred Gladding for fourth place. In 2022, he was 2–2 with 33 saves and a 2.98 ERA in innings with 65 strikeouts in 50 games. Pressly was critical in the Astros’ victory in the 2022 World Series, closing out five of six games, as he allowed just two hits, one walk, and no earned runs in innings. This impressive run included a 5-out save in Game 5, and the final three outs in Game 6 as the Astros clinched the title. In Game 5, he entered with a 3–2 lead in the eighth, one out and runners on first and third. He struck out
Brandon Marsh on three pitches—all
sliders—and induced a sharply-hit
Kyle Schwarber groundout that first baseman
Trey Mancini smothered. Per
Baseball-Reference.com, the Marsh strikeout rendered 9.2% championship
win probability added (cWPA), the most on any single out over the prior six World Series. For his World Series performance, Pressly led all players in the 2022 edition with a 33.87% cWPA. In total, Pressly went 6-for-6 in postseason saves (while allowing no earned runs) to become the 16th reliever with six postseason saves in one postseason.
2023 Pressly successfully converted 28 consecutive save opportunities—including the postseason—until May 29,
2023, an eventual 7–5 loss to the
Twins. On July 21, Pressly pitched a clean ninth inning to close out a 6–4 win over
Oakland for the 100th regular-season save of his career, and 99th as Astro. Pressly converted his 100th save as a member of the Astros on July 25 versus the
Texas Rangers to become him the fourth pitcher to do so, joining
Baseball Hall of Fame member
Billy Wagner (225),
Dave Smith (199), and
Brad Lidge (123). In Game 1 of the
American League Division Series (ALDS), Pressly closed out a 6–4 Astros win over the Twins to earn his 12th career postseason save, moving him into fifth place all-time on the postseason saves list. On October 20, Pressly's multi-inning effort in Game 5 of the
American League Championship Series (ALCS) in a win over the Rangers resulted in his 14th career postseason save—and 14th straight converted. At the time, he had converted the second-most consecutive postseason saves, trailing only
Mariano Rivera (23). Over 46 appearances, Pressly had also posted a 2.22 ERA, 3–0 W–L, .195
batting average against (BAA), and 32 percent strikeout rate.
2024 As a consequence of signing
free agent reliever
Josh Hader prior to the
2024 season, the Astros reassigned Pressly as a primary
setup reliever and made Hader closer. On June 16, Pressly entered the eighth inning inheriting a no-hit bid by starter
Ronel Blanco; after getting two
Detroit Tigers out, he allowed a single to
Wenceel Pérez for the first hit of the game. He collected his 45th appearance of the season on August 2 to activate a vesting option for 2025, tossing one scoreless inning in a 3–2 victory over the
Tampa Bay Rays. In 2024, Pressly made 59 regular season appearances, producing a 2–3 record, 3.49 ERA, 4 saves, and 58 strikeouts over innings. In the
AL Wild Card Series (WCS) versus Detroit, he was 0–1 with 3 earned runs surrendered in inning
Chicago Cubs (2025) On January 28, 2025, the Astros traded Pressly with $5.5 million in cash considerations to the
Chicago Cubs in exchange for Juan Bello. In 44 appearances for Chicago, he compiled a 2-3 record and 4.35 ERA with 28 strikeouts and five saves across innings pitched. On July 31, Pressly was
designated for assignment by the Cubs. He was released by the team the following day. On January 17, 2026, Pressly announced his retirement from professional baseball. ==International career==