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The Houston Astros have made the ALCS seven years in a row, making four trips to the World Series and collecting a couple of championships throughout that span. However, it appears that their run is coming to an end, and relief pitcher Ryan Pressly’s time with the club may be reaching its conclusion, too.
The Astros are just 18-25 and sit in fourth place in the AL West. They are still alive in the playoff hunt, as they are only 5.5 games behind the Seattle Mariners for first place in the division, but if Houston is unable to make up any ground over these next several weeks, the front office may have to start considering trading some pieces.
One player who could be moved is Pressly.
The catch is that Pressly has a full no-trade clause, but there is a belief that he would consider waving for the right team or role, via Jon Heyman of The New York Post.
Of course, it’s still very early in the season, and most teams don’t want to give up just yet (unless you’re the Miami Marlins, who traded two-time batting champion Luis Arraez earlier this month). The Astros also do not surrender easily, noted Heyman.
That being said, it seems pretty clear that Houston isn’t much of a contender. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Astros go into sell mode before the Aug. 1 trade deadline.
Ryan Pressly has struggled early on this season
Pressly has built a reputation as one of the best relief pitchers in baseball, especially since arriving in Houston midway through the 2018 campaign.
Throughout his first several years with the Astros, Pressly was mostly lights out. This has particularly been true in the playoffs, where he boasts a minuscule 2.22 ERA while registering 58 strikeouts over 44.2 innings. He has also allowed just one postseason home run.
However, it has been a different story for Pressly in 2024.
The right-hander has gotten off to a rocky start. Through 18 appearances, Pressly has pitched to the tune of a 5.51 ERA, surrendering 23 hits and a couple of long balls across 16.1 frames. He has fanned 24 hitters, but opponents are hitting .319 off of him. His hard hit percentage has also skyrocketed to 47.9 percent, opposed to his career average of 38.5 percent.
It should be noted that Pressly did allow four earned runs in one game back in early April, so that is obviously inflating his ERA. But, on that same token, he has allowed runs in seven of his relief appearances.
Is this just a rough start? Or could it be a sign that the 35-year-old is declining?
There is quite a bit of mileage on Pressly’s arm, and even last year, he ended up with a 3.58 ERA. That certainly isn’t bad, but he posted sub-3 ERAs in three of his first four full seasons in Houston, making a couple of All-Star appearances during that span.
One saving grace for Pressly this season could be his BABIP. Opponents have a .457 BABIP against the veteran thus far in 2024, indicating that he may be a bit unlucky (his lifetime BABIP is .294, right around league average). Then again, his hard hit percentage signals otherwise.
We’ll see if Pressly can right the ship as the season progresses and if he ends up switching uniforms at some point in the coming months.
More must-reads:
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- The 'MLB stolen base leaders' quiz
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