Playoff bullpen getting warmer
Pressly says young relievers, credited with four of five wins in the postseason, ‘know how to take it to the next level’
For all their accomplishments in helping the Astros rebound from a subpar regular season to two playoff series wins, Houston’s youthful bullpen enters another series as relative afterthoughts to Tampa Bay’s “Whole Damn Stable of Guys Who Throw 98 MPH.”
Tampa Bay’s pitching staff, so dubbed by manager Kevin Cash after a confrontation with twotime playoff goat Aroldis Chapman during a regular-season setto with the Yankees, played a critical role in the team’s division series win Friday to set up the Astros-Rays series that begins Sunday night in San Diego.
Righthanders Nick Anderson, Pete Fairbanks and Diego Castillo covered 62⁄ innings for starter
3
Tyler Glasnow, who was pitching on short rest, and combined for nine strikeouts while allowing one run and three hits and, indeed, launching 13 pitches that topped 98 mph.
The Astros will counter with closer Ryan Pressly and a cast of youngsters and reclamation projects that nonetheless has been credited with four of Houston’s five playoff wins while recording a 2.45 ERA and a WHIP of 1.11 that includes almost as many walks (12) as hits (16).
They’re second-stringers by comparison, and they don’t care.
“They’re fearless,” Pressly said. “They don’t care what the situation is. They don’t care how messy the inning is. They want the ball all the time.
“As a reliever, that is what you want to have in your mindset. You have to have a short memory. These guys I wouldn’t trade them for anybody else. They know how to take it to the next level.”
Houston employed 22 pitchers in relief during the regular season to uneven results, a 10-16 record
with 16 saves and a 4.39 ERA. The Rays’ bullpen was 25-11 and led the majors with 23 saves.
In the playoffs, the Astros have used eight pitchers in relief, including Framber Valdez, who is set to start Game 1, and Cristian
Javier, who was credited with two playoff wins but had 10 regular-season starts and could be called upon in that role again during a best- of-seven series with no days off.
Enoli Paredes and lefthander
Blake Taylor each made three appearances, with two for Brooks Raley and one each for Josh James and Andre Scrubb. The Astros have yet to use Cy Sneed or Luis Garcia in the playoffs.
Manager Dusty Baker has noted that he inherited a bullpen without Joe Smith, who is sitting out the season, Chris Devenski and Roberto Osuna, both of whom are on the injured list.
He was left, he said, with a group of pitchers who were trained as starters. Accordingly, Baker said, he and pitching coach Brent Strom managed workloads during the regular season to ensure that no reliever pitched three days in a row while he and Strom discovered which pitcher fit best within which framework.
“It’s paid off for a lot of these guys,” Pressly said. “They know how to manage their throwing programs and how to get hot without overdoing it. They’ve been managing that pretty well, and it’s kept them fresh.” Paredes, who had 32⁄ scoreless
3 innings in three stints against the A’s, has been the primary eye- catcher.
“He’s a gamer who loves being in these situations,” Pressly said. “He’s a gritty, tiny, hard-throwing righty. He’s going to be a very valuable piece in the bullpen going forward.”
Raley has provided a veteran’s presence at age 32, and Taylor has been effective as a left-handed alternative. James, who allowed a three-run homer to Chad Pinder in the Astros’ lone loss to the A’s, has been the most prominent underachiever thus far.
Selective amnesia, however, remains a part of the reliever’s arsenal, and over the course of a possible seven games, the Astros almost certainly will need James, Sneed and Garcia to contribute as well.
“It’s impressive to watch at a young age as they’re starting to grasp the bullpen life,” Pressly said. “They’ve taken a few things I’ve told them, but they have to do their own thing.”