Houston Astros Bullpen Finding Success Despite Unorthodox Gameplan

One of the strengths of the Houston Astros through their first 21 games of the season has been their bullpen.

When playing as many low-scoring games as the Astros have, scoring three or fewer runs in 15 out of their 21 contests, it is imperative that the pitching staff is on their game to help give the team a chance to win.

Houston is 10-11 thus far in large part because their bullpen has excelled in not allowing things to get out of hand and are able to shut the door on their opponents when they do have a lead.

Combined, the relief staff has a 2.87 ERA.

Closer Josh Hader and setup man Steven Okert have identical 0.82 ERAs through 11 innings of work. They have bee lights out, surrendering only 10 hits and two walks to go along with 28 strikeouts, combined.

Bryan King has a 1.74 ERA and Bryan Abreu has a 2.79 ERA, providing manager Joe Espada with a really talented quartet to rely on in close games.

What makes this group so special is the unorthodox way they are putting away their opponents.

When people think of the most dominant bullpens in baseball, the first thing that comes to mind is flamethrowers -- players who routinely reach triple digits on the radar gun and blow away opponents.

That isn’t how the Astros are getting the job done.

Their relief pitchers have combined to average only 93.6 mph on their fastballs thus far this season. It is the seventh-lowest velocity in the sport, and a number that could continue going down.

Rafael Montero and Ryan Gusto, who have combined to throw 55 out of the 134 pitches that have been clocked going at least 96 mph, are no longer in the bullpen.

Montero was traded to the Atlanta Braves, while Gusto is operating as a starting pitcher right now.

The 134 pitches at that velocity are the sixth-fewest in the MLB.

But, this isn’t something the coaching staff is worried about since they are putting an emphasis on pitchers who can get outs, not so much relying on certain situations and matchups to yield positive production.

“We’re not handedness-biased. We’re not velocity-biased. We’re not anything-biased,” pitching coach Josh Miller said, via Chandler Rome of The Athletic (subscription required). “We just want guys that can get the job done and get outs at the big-league level.”

Mixing and matching is important, especially throughout the marathon regular season.

Houston is hoping they have the diversity in their relief staff to combat any lineup they face. Forrest Whitley being reinstated from the injured list and the impending return of Kaleb Ort will help achieve that goal.

Both averaged at least 96.9 mph on their fastballs in 2024, making them more than capable of replacing what was lost from Montero and Gusto to help bring this bullpen together.

“There’s going to be hitters on rosters or in lineups where velocity plays better against them than other stuff,” Miller said. “But there are going to be teams that can handle velocity, and we need other stuff to get by. In any one at-bat or one-game situation, we could use velocity, but it’s not always the case.”

Not being overly reliant on one skill -- velocity in this case -- is what could make this Astros bullpen one of the best units in baseball when the season comes to a close.