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Houston Astros: Three things to like about reliever Ryan Pressly

By Brian K. Patterson

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MAY 18: Ryan Pressly #57 of the Minnesota Twins delivers a pitch against the Colorado Rockies during the eighth inning of game one of a doubleheader on May 18, 2017 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Rockies defeated the Twins 5-1. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MAY 18: Ryan Pressly #57 of the Minnesota Twins delivers a pitch against the Colorado Rockies during the eighth inning of game one of a doubleheader on May 18, 2017 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Rockies defeated the Twins 5-1. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
(Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /

Thing #3:  Pressly and the bottom line

All in all, the Houston Astros have got themselves a hell of a find as far as bringing Pressly into the fold.  This team never ceases to amazes me by making not making moves that fans want the team to make but what is in the best interest of the team.  The seem to have a great gauge for that and you can thank the terrific front office ran by Jeff Luhnow.

Let’s make it clear that Pressly was on the radar of just about every contender out there even though it wasn’t heavily sought after as far as reports from the media until the deal actually happened with the Houston Astros.  This move wasn’t necessarily as sexy as what a Zach Britton, Addison Reed or a Kelvin Herrera signing but when one digs into the numbers this guy was

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putting up, he’s extremely worth the price.

So what did the Astros give up?  Luhnow popped back open his coveted prospects foot locker and pulled out two of the team’s Top 15 prospects.  The team traded RHP Jorge Alcala and outfielder Gilberto Celestino which were ranked No. 10 and 15 respectively in the organization by MLB Pipeline.

The thing about prospects is that with the right scouting team, one can always find additional ones to fill the ones lost.  This current Astros regime has done a good job of that and has been cautious to not plunder the farm to keep the team together, which was what happened shortly after the team’s first appearance in the World Series more than a decade ago.

It took years to build the farm back up and it’s a prudent idea to harvest deliberately yet with the future in mind to ensure the team stays in competitive territory for an infinite amount of time.

But here’s the bottom line — the Astros will be getting a pitcher that is going to do excellent things for this team and he could easily turn into being one of my Top 5 favorite players on this team.  The numbers are flabbergasting, the track record is marvelous and the idea of suspense for me is unbelievable.

Don’t let that 3.40 ERA fool you, that statistic can be so situational and for the record, he has a 0.90 ERA for the month of July thus far.  He started the month with a 3.86 ERA but has steadily brought it down to where it’s currently at now.

Although the Astros will still continue their mantra that they’ll close games “by-committee,” I think Pressly is more than capable of the job.

On another note, he is a native Texan but he’s from the awful city that I don’t like up north — I won’t mention them by name — but he did his damage at the renowned-Flower Mound Marcus High, out in the northwest ‘burbs of the metroplex, which has produced a factory of talented athletes over time.

Let’s do this!

Next. Three players the Astros need to avoid at the trade deadline. dark

Pressly, 29, has posted a 1-1 record, a 3.40 ERA, allowing 18 earned runs as well as five homers, while tossing 69 strikeouts, a decent 1.36 WHIP, an excellent 2.95 FIP and a stellar 13.03 K/9 through 47.2 innings pitched.

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