High Quality Houston Astros Reliever Signs Free Agent Deal With Arizona Diamondbacks

The Houston Astros are losing another RHP this offseason, as one of their relievers signs with the Arizona Diamondbacks after electing for free agency.

Jeremy Trottier | Feb 14, 2025

Houston Astros relief pitcher Kendall Graveman reacts after giving up a home run to Atlanta Braves catcher Travis d'Arnaud. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

In this story:

Houston Astros

The Houston Astros have had an offseason retooling of the bullpen, as some of the key pieces from years prior are moving on via trade or free agency. One of those pieces moving on is right-hander Kendall Graveman, who has signed a deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks, as reported by Jesse Rogers of ESPN.

This deal comes only a few weeks after another relief move, as the Astros traded away their former all-star closer Ryan Pressly to the Chicago Cubs for prospect Juan Bello.

Graveman missed the 2024 season due to having shoulder surgery in January prior to spring training, and ultimately chose to elect free agency to test the market. Rogers also reports that Graveman has fully recovered from this shoulder injury, but the deal is now pending a physical.

He has had two separate stints with Houston, one in 2021 and one in 2023, the prior of which he played in 23 games after being traded there by the Seattle Mariners. That first stint was not as great as the latter, posting a 3.13 ERA, 1.391 WHIP, with 27 strikeouts to 12 walks and a 139 ERA+. His 2023 was slightly stronger, as in the same amount of games he accrued a 2.42 ERA, 1.522 WHIP, 24 strikeouts to 16 walks, and a 178 ERA+.

With him now moving on to another team, that leaves the Astros with a somewhat new look bullpen compared to the past few seasons. The current projected relief arms would be Josh Hader as the closer, Bryan Abreu and Tayler Scott as setup, and then Bryan King, Kaleb Ort, Rafael Montero, Forrest Whitley, and Shawn Dubin rounding out the remaining spots.

Ort was probably the biggest surprise from last season, as he was coming off multiple seasons with the Boston Red Sox of well-below-average performances, and then stepped up with his new team in Houston.

After putting together a 6.27 ERA in 47 games with the Red Sox, he was able to get it all the way down to a 2.55 in 2024 with the Astros, and it was no fluke. He also had a 0.811 WHIP, 26 strikeouts to four walks, and a 157 ERA+. His biggest struggle of note was giving up seven home runs to seven earned runs, so if he can manage to get that down, he may improve even further this season.

While losing Pressly and Graveman hurts the bottom line of talent, they are 36 and 34 years of age respectively, so if Houston is looking to retool as a younger roster, it makes sense to let them walk, or in the instance of the prior, cash in on their assets.

Recommended Articles