4 years agoHouston Astros right-handed pitcher Ryan Pressly has not officially been announced as the club’s closer in the wake of Roberto Osuna’s (elbow) injury, but he was tasked with pitching the ninth Thursday against Arizona. Pressly had appeared just once all season, but with the Houston relief corps severely undermanned, he would seemingly make the most sense to get the vast majority of save opportunities moving forward. Pressly has been tremendous since being acquired by the Astros in 2018, having produced a 1.95 ERA over his first 82 appearances with the club. His performance in 2019 merits owners in any sized season-long format taking a shot on him as the closer, as he finished in the top 10 percent of the league in opponents’ exit velocity (86.8 MPH), xSLG (.334), wOBA (.233), xwOBA (.259), K% (34.1%), and xERA (2.73).--Jesse Borek
Source: Baseball Savant