Houston Astros Season in Review: Héctor Neris

Houston Astros reliever Héctor Neris had a good season analytically, but on the surface, his mediocrity wasn't enough to shine through a dominant Astros bullpen.

You'd have to wonder if Héctor Neris would have left Philadelphia if he knew he'd be facing his former team in the World Series.

The eight-year Major League Baseball veteran was with the organization for 12 seasons, and he'd never so much as sniffed a playoff berth. So when he signed two-year, $17 million deal with the Houston Astros last December, it was a given he'd finally break his curse.

The Astros have been the cream of the American League since 2017, and 2022 makes it six seasons since they missed the playoffs.

Oddly enough, the World Series wasn't the first time Neris faced his former team. 

The day after they had broken their 11-year playoff drought, the Philadelphia Phillies faced Neris in their hangover game which was part of the Astros' effort that crushed them 10-0.

There's some poetry to that.

Neris spent so many years trying to push the Phillies over the hump, only to be a part of the bulldozer that mowed them down the day after they had climbed that hill.

But Neris' season wasn't limited to rhymes with his boyhood club. By May 14, he sported a 0.56 ERA across 16 innings, Houston's most effective reliever to open the season. He had struck out 15 batters and walked just one.

Had Houston unlocked budding potential inside the 32-year-old reliever?

It seemed so until he came crashing back down to earth.

Though the rest of his season wasn't bad, per se, it only looked good analytically.

From May 16 through the end of the season, his ERA was 4.74. Though he struck out four batters for every walk he allowed, Neris couldn't help but get unlucky at every turn.

Opposing batters had a BABIP of .331 against him, when his career average was .293.

Neris finished the season with a 3.72 ERA in 65.1 innings which is respectable, but not enough so to crack the backend of the Astros' bullpen.

In 6.0 World Series innings, Neris surrendered only one run, a long ball. But he struck out nine and walked none, and cathartically, allowed only one baserunner in 2.0 innings against the Phillies in the World Series.

Final Grade: B-

Neris is primed for a much better 2023. His FIP of 2.35 and K/BB of 4.65 indicate that there's a much more elite reliever simmering under the surface. The Astros coaching staff must work to coax that Neris out.

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