Neris OK despite drop in velocity

Hector Neris’ first two post-World Baseball Classic pitches prompted concern from Martín Maldonado. The veteran catcher stopped Neris’ outing while summoning pitching coach Josh Miller and athletic trainer Eric Velazquez to the mound during Tuesday’s game against the Miami Marlins.

Neris tossed a few warmup pitches and stayed in the game. He procured his three outs but did not reach his normal velocity. According to the stadium radar gun, Neris sat around 92-93 mph. Last season, Neris averaged 94.3 mph with his four-seam fastball and 94.5 mph with his sinker.

“Everything is good, everything is normal,” Neris said. “It was one outing. You want to see if everything is connected, but (Maldonado) saw a pitch he didn’t think was good so he came to talk to me. Everything is normal.”

Neris’ outing arrived two days after starter Cristian Javier showed a similar trend in a start against the Marlins — his first since returning from the World Baseball Classic. Velocity on all three of Javier’s pitches were at least two miles per hour below his regular-season average.

Javier said afterward that nothing was amiss. That the Astros allowed him to throw four innings and 76 pitches only reinforces the point. Baker surmised that both players could be in the same circumstance: trying to compensate in a low-adrenaline setting after playing such high-stakes games for Team Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic.

“That was big-time baseball. There might be (a correlation),” Baker said. “Both feel fine, both say it’s nothing. They’re pretty honest with us. We’re thinking it’s nothing.”