heading into spring training<\/a>. That required buy-in from Rolison. He figured he didn\u2019t have much to lose, pointing to his 2025 performance and noting, \u201cObviously results will tell you a lot, and my results last year weren\u2019t very good.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cIf something\u2019s not working, you\u2019ve gotta fix something,\u201d Rolison said. \u201cI sat down with them and I was open to pretty much anything. I was drafted early to be successful in the big leagues and wasn\u2019t last year. I was hungry to turn the page and show people, show myself that I can be successful at this level.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rolison attributes his success this season to three things: the Cubs letting him be himself and pitching freely with confidence, keeping his mindset simple by thinking about one part of the zone and ripping every pitch through there, and tweaking his arsenal, particularly with the addition of his sinker and sweeper. He described the sinker as a game-changer against lefties, while the sweeper gives him another eye-level changing movement profile in his five-pitch mix.<\/p>\n
\u201cRighties have been a problem a little bit, and so that\u2019s something we\u2019re kind of talking through with different sequence stuff, so I\u2019m happy where I\u2019m at right now,\u201d Rolison said. \u201cBut I honestly think there\u2019s a lot more left in the tank of being more dominant against right-handed hitters, and I still think there\u2019s some potential to tap into.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the course of the season, Rolison\u2019s opportunities in leverage spots \u2014 and subsequent success in those situations \u2014 have helped him build confidence and give Counsell a reliable option for a pitching staff that has battled injuries.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mind\u2019s not wavering on if I can get the job done or not,\u201d Rolison said. \u201cI think the more experience that you\u2019re in those situations, it helps with the way you pitch. And I can\u2019t say enough about the pitching side here of just showing me the numbers of, like, \u2018hey, your stuff is really good compared to the rest of the league, you should be in the zone as much as you can and attack these guys.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Rolison has gotten a glimpse of how electric Wrigley Field can get, but he knows it\u2019s nothing like it could be in the playoffs, something he\u2019s heard from his teammates who were part of last year\u2019s postseason squad. The Cubs have more work to do over the final three weeks of the regular season to guarantee at least one playoff series at Wrigley by locking down the league\u2019s top wild-card spot.<\/p>\n
If the Cubs are able to secure that position, Rolison\u2019s performance will play a role in getting them there.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrowing up as a kid, you\u2019re watching the playoffs on TV and seeing the electricity, and that\u2019s what you practice in the backyard of Game 7 in the World Series, 3-2 count,\u201d Rolison said. \u201cThe fans have been great all year, and I can\u2019t imagine what it\u2019s like in October.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MILWAUKEE \u2014 Ryan Rolison always possessed elite talent and potential. It\u2019s why the 29-year-old left-hander was selected in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":800153,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2399],"tags":[5,138,24,4245,161,62127,40388,41017,59,4,256,8052],"class_list":["post-800152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-cubs","tag-baseball","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-chicagocubs","tag-cubs","tag-cubs-bullpen","tag-cubs-pitching","tag-cubs-spring-training","tag-milwaukee-brewers","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-baseball","tag-ryan-rolison"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/117238275043518350","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=800152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/800153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=800152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=800152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=800152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Chicago](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ctc-z-Brewers-Cubs-Baseball_266273235.jpg\")
Chicago Cubs closing pitcher Ryan Rolison celebrates after defeating the Milwaukee Brewers in a game at Wrigley Field on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (AP Photo\/Paul Beaty)<\/p>\n