Peacock, Armenteros, Osuna, Urquidy not available. Joe Smith not expected to report. Josh James in the rotation. Short season, and turnover is expected. This is the expected opening day bullpen... Pruitt or Framber will be in the rotation: Bryan Abreu Joe Biagini Chris Devenski Ryan Pressly Austin Pruitt Cy Sneed Framber Valdez
Healthy Pressly will be fine as closer. And Osuna is not that far away, just not in shape (surprised that hasn't garnered any extra criticism). Urquidy is in rotation when he's back, which is also going to be soon. Is Paredes in the mix? With his stuff, enticing for him to slide into one of the bridge/set-up roles.
Yea like Nick mentioned, Osuna will be back pretty quick. Him and Presley are as good as almost all teams 8th/9th inning guys. I like Abreu a lot, if he could end up being the 7th inning guy that would be a solid back end of the pen. The middle guys will definitely be up and down, wonder how many times we will get 6 innings out of Lance
Once Osuna makes it back which should be in a couple of weeks at most. you will have Pressly in the 8th and Osuna in the 9th, you will need one of the guys you listed in the 7th. When Urquidy makes it back he will either start or be the 7th inning guy. I still think they will make a trade for another reliever regardless if Urquidy makes it back or not. Out of the guys you listed Sneed is my 7th inning guy.
I think it will be stat geeks and matchups for the pen until we get to the 8th and 9th innings when Osuna gets back. I don't expect to have one "7th inning" guy. It will be musical chairs for awhile until they figure it out. Don't be surprised if Devenski gets the first shot just because of his experience. If we are in contention, I also believe an elite reliever will be at the top of the shopping list unless a couple of the young guys really step up.
To Fish's point, 60 game season isn't a given that this team will be a contender. Too many variables to say this team is a lock. I expect them to win the division but health and pitching will determine a lot.
The bullpen is scary. The walks will likely scare Astros fans. The strikeouts will scare opposing teams.
On paper the bullpen is an issue right now, anybody saying otherwise has on rose colored glasses. However we have some extremely talented arms like Abreu, and Osuna should be back pretty soon. The most important area of the pen is the back end, and we should be OK in that regard. If all else fails it's an easy area to address in the trade market. If sketchy middle relief is your big problem then you're in pretty damn good shape. This season is very much a sprint, so it isn't something we can wait on very long like a normal season.
Last year, people were harping on the bullpen due to the lack of a solid 4th arm (or was it 6th?) and Astros finished second in ERA (1st in xFIP). Year before that, people were harping on no one to close games....finished first in ERA (first in xFIP). While this bullpen looks like a step down from being the best bullpen at preventing runs the past two years, it is likely still top 10. If the ball is dejuiced (walks + juiced ball = bad juju) or Abreu and Javier throw strikes, it will likely be top 5.
Dusty (or Strom) do need to perfect the art of bringing in a relief pitcher only to end an inning (so they don't have to face 3 batters). I expect plenty of pitching changes with 1 or 2 outs in the middle innings.
As of right now we're counting on rookies to pitch high leverage situations, and that's never something you can feel confident about. If they are great then of course the issue will sort itself out. If they aren't, any close game in the 6th and 7th inning is gonna be an adventure, and given we only have 2 starters that should regularly get through 6 the pen is likely gonna see a lot of action.
A durable ground ball specialist that can quickly clean up an inning is going to be a Godsend probably almost as much as the flamethrower that can get a punch out, when needed. Probably a great place to focus in the trade market for Click and team.
Osuna is not dead. Pressly...he's okay. I'm more confident in the Astros rookies than I am in the veterans that suck that most teams have to use to mop up high leverage situations that the top two relievers can't handle. Granted, the Astros are going to win more games than most other teams if not all and create more high leverage situations. Dammit that the Astros are going to win a lot.
Agreed, that there will be more high leverage situations and the Stros are going to win alot. Also I agree that if their are bullpen problems there will be relievers available in trades.
Joe Smith Won’t play this year. Biagini and Devenski will be terrible Pressly, Bryan Abreu and Osuna will be very good Cy Sneed will be solid Enoli Paredes needs to be in the pen at some point this season. Urquidy ??????? Framber Valdez is 5th starter, opening against Dodgers. (Scary) Austin Pruitt (still hurt) long relief
