Veteran Houston Astros Reliever Has Finally Figured It Out

The Houston Astros veteran reliever has settled down after a rough start to the MLB season.
Jun 11, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Houston Astros pitcher Ryan Pressly (55) celebrates after the game against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park.
Jun 11, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Houston Astros pitcher Ryan Pressly (55) celebrates after the game against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. / Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports
In this story:

Not too long ago, the Houston Astros had an expensive problem on their hands that they were about to consider shipping away. Now, the player has once again turned into a reliable reliever.

Ryan Pressly spent the last few years as an elite closer for Houston.

For a three-year span, he had a 2.94 ERA and incredible 0.985 WHIP while picking up 90 saves. He was the best kind of closer that you could have. He struck batters out at an insane rate while not giving up free bases and rarely gave up home runs.

The Texas native's best season in that stretch was 2021. He finished with a 2.25 ERA and 0.890 WHIP while earning his second All-Star nod.

He lost that job when they signed Josh Hader to a historic contract. Pressly would revert back to his setup man role and things did not go smoothly.

For the first two months, fans would start to groan when it came his turn to pitch. He had a 5.40 ERA over his first 27 appearances. Batters were slashing .311/.360/.485 against him as he blew five saves and converted just one.

It didn't help that the new closer, Hader, had also had a horrific start to the season.

The Astros were looking as bad as they had in a decade and formerly reliable pitchers looked like rookies.

Houston manager Joe Espada wasn't shy about his shortcoming and acknowledged that something was going to need to change in his preparation and usage given that he's going into games earlier than he had been accustomed to.

Over the past month, a switch has been flipped and he looks like his normal, reliable self (if not an even better version).

Opposing teams haven't scored a run off of the 35-year-old since Jun 11. In that span batters are hitting just .143/.189/.143. He's given up five hits but they were all singles and never more than one in an outing.

The Astros are 12-2 in games he's appeared in during that span, with him even picking up another save.

Again, Pressly did spend the first eight years of his career as mostly setup guy. He knows how to come out of the bullpen in non-save situations, it just took a little bit of time for him to settle back into it.

Even if he doesn't keep up this absurd pace for the rest of the season, it's nice to know that he still has it in him as Houston prepares for a playoff run.


Published
Dylan Sanders

DYLAN SANDERS

Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders