Houston Astros: Three things to like about reliever Ryan Pressly

Thing #2: Pressly’s deception capabilities

Pressly knows how/when to get those strikeouts and that’s certainly something that’s badly-needed.  With no disrespect to the guys we have such as Chris Devenski, Collin McHugh and Hector Rondon in the bullpen, these pitchers are better suited to set the table for the closer rather than BEING the closer.

Each of these guys will be instrumental in ensuring that these Houston Astros are in the midst come October but as I mentioned earlier in this piece, it’s important the team has someone that has the experience in being calm and collective in high-pressure situations.  I do think that Pressly is that guy.

But let’s talk about the act of deception which is single-handedly the most important trait that a dominant pitcher must have.

Here’s what Daren Willman, MLB’s director of research and development, came up with:

These numbers have me feel even more comfortable about Pressly capabilities as reliever to push us across the finish line of a World Series championship.  Being compared with talents such as Josh Hader — formerly of the Houston Astros organization — Edwin Diaz, Craig Kimbrel, Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman ups this man’s value even more.

This notion alludes to the fact that he knows how to wear down a batter and I can certainly attest that there’s going to be some fun pitching battles to watch when gets the game ball on the mound.

He already has 69 strikeouts — good for third in the AL among relievers — on the season and he’ll hopefully have every opportunity to hopefully push himself into triple-digit territory once it’s all said and done on the season as it will continue to wind down over the next couple of months.  It’s also important to note that Pressly was able to attain this 37.1 percent notch based off of 399 pitches.

And in the words of the late but great pitchman Billy Mays, “And I’m still not done!”

It’s certainly true because I’m not done.  Did you know what Pressly is ranked 7th among all AL relievers with his K/9 rate?  It’s currently holding at an awesomely meaty 13.03.  In addition the guys I mentioned above, he’s in the territory with Andrew Miller and Chad Green.

But when one compares that particular number to Giles, his counterpart, it wasn’t too far off from 11.92 that the flame-baller threw before getting sent down to Triple-A, likely for good.

But let’s take a look at how this works out for the Houston Astros.