Devenski piles up innings at furious pace for a reliever
NEW YORK — Chris Devenski is tied for fourth in appearances among Astros relievers, but his innings nearly rival that of some starters.
The two scoreless innings Devenski pitched in Thursday’s 3-2 victory over the New York Yankees increased the righthander’s total to an even 23 this season. The dominant multi-inning reliever is on pace to eclipse 103 innings during the regular season, an eyepopping number in an era of eight-man bullpens and closely monitored pitcher workloads.
No full-time reliever has reached 100 innings in a regular season since Scott Proctor of the Yankees logged 1021⁄3 innings in 2006. No Astro has pitched 100 innings of relief in a season since Dave Veres in 1995.
Paces, of course, are just that.
Astros manager A.J. Hinch noted Friday that in a perfect world Devenski’s usage will vary from month to month. The reliever’s days of rest between outings, according to Hinch, is more important than his volume of innings, especially when Devenski is as efficient as he has been.
“As long as I’m giving him the rest that I feel like he needs and that’s necessary, I think he can handle the workload,” said Hinch, who also acknowledged Devenski reaching the number of innings he’s on pace for is “probably improbable.”
“What I don’t want is the constant games,” he said. “I think the back-toback days after multiple innings, the three out of four days, the four out of six days, that’s where I think relievers get really caught (with) fatigue. If I’m able to keep the rest periods and he’s getting those innings in less games, that’s the best route for him to be able to endure the role that we have him in.”
Hinch has deployed Devenski on back-to-back days only once this season. High-stress versus lowstress innings also are a factor, and Devenski has had almost exclusively the latter. In several of his outings, Devenski has been so effective and efficient he has made it difficult for his manager not to send him out to pitch another inning.
Devenski has struck out 42 of the 85 batters he has faced, good for a 49.4 strikeout percentage that ranks fourth among major league relievers. None of the top three — Boston’s Craig Kimbrel (55.4), the White Sox’s Tommy Kahnle (54.8) and the Dodgers’ Kenley Jansen (51.0) — came into Friday having pitched more than 152⁄3 innings.
Ultimately, Hinch doesn’t have a target number for regular-season innings for Devenski.
“I just want him to pitch in a high-leverage role when we’re winning,” he said. “I don’t want to use him in less-than-ideal circumstances.”
Paulino returns to duty at Fresno
The Astros on Friday went through the formality of activating righthander David Paulino from the 10-day disabled list and optioning him to Class AAA Fresno, the affiliate he was already with.
Paulino pitched three scoreless innings in his season debut with Fresno on Thursday night after missing five weeks because of a bone bruise in his elbow. The 6-7 prospect allowed one hit, struck out four and walked four in a 5-3 win.
Officially, the start was part of a rehab assignment. He was on the major league disabled list only because he finished last season with the Astros.
Paulino is next scheduled to start Tuesday against Nashville opposite the just-demoted Oakland Athletics pitcher Jharel Cotton.
Meanwhile, outfielder Teoscar Hernandez (lower left leg bruise) remains officially on a rehab assignment with Fresno, though he soon will be activated and optioned to the Class AAA affiliate. He went 2-for-4 on Thursday in his first game since the injury.
Odds and ends
Saturday’s scheduled matinee might be rained out. If that’s the case, the teams probably will play a day-night doubleheader Sunday because this is the Astros’ only scheduled visit to New York this season. …
Carlos Beltran played right field Friday for the first time this season because of the cozy dimensions at Yankee Stadium. Beltran’s first seven defensive appearances this season came in left field, which was manned by Jake Marisnick on Friday. …
As part of the MLB players’ association’s Players Trust charitable efforts, Marisnick and Alex Bregman appeared Friday at a local field to encourage youth baseball players from the New York Center for Autism Charter School. …
While touring Monument Park at Yankee Stadium for the first time Friday, Astros manager A.J. Hinch snapped a photo posing next to the plaque for Mel Stottlemyre. He planned to text the photo to the Yankees legend, a friend from their days working for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Stottlemyre, 75, has long battled cancer.
“He’s hanging in there,” said Hinch, who’s close with Stottlemyre’s son, Mel Jr., the pitching coach for the Seattle Mariners. “I’m rooting for him to feel better.”