How Ryne Stanek became odd man out in Astros' leverage relief corps Ryne Stanek - Bryan Abreu HEAD TOPICS

How Ryne Stanek became odd man out in Astros' leverage relief corps

10/21/2022 11:41:00 PM

Ryne Stanek despite a record-setting season for the Astros has found himself barely

Ryne Stanek Bryan Abreu

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Houston Chronicle

How Ryne Stanek , despite record-setting year, became odd man out in Astros ' leverage relief corps Ryne Stanek , despite a record-setting season for the Astros , has found himself barely... Karen Warren/Staff photographerNEW YORK — A standing ovation greeted Ryne Stanek on the regular season’s final day, when he spun a scoreless seventh inning against the Philadelphia Phillies and etched his name into record books. No qualified reliever in Astros history had finished a season with a lower ERA than Stanek’s 1.15 mark. The Astros recognized the righthander with a scoreboard graphic as he exited the field. Stanek doffed his cap, descended the dugout steps and hasn’t been seen since. Read more:
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After setting a franchise record for reliever ERA during the regular season, Ryne Stanek has appeared in just one of the Astros' first five playoff games, the 18-inning ALDS clincher in Seattle.MLB MVP odds Yankees vs Astros Over/Under analysis This total opened at 7 and leaning to the Under, but some love for the Over has moved it to -110 aside.Hide Caption Bad blood and bad history: Everything you need to know for Yankees-Astros ALCS Our MLB insiders Bob Nightengale and Steve Gardner get you ready for the ALCS between the Yankees and Astros.By. Karen Warren/Staff photographer NEW YORK — A standing ovation greeted Ryne Stanek on the regular season’s final day, when he spun a scoreless seventh inning against the Philadelphia Phillies and etched his name into record books. No qualified reliever in Astros history had finished a season with a lower ERA than Stanek’s 1.5, which shows there is some consistent love for this Over with people able to move the line.15 mark.  "I saw someone running and I saw Astros jersey and I said, I’m fine," Altuve told reporters after Game 2. The Astros recognized the righthander with a scoreboard graphic as he exited the field. It’s just so deep that there aren’t any weak spots in it. Stanek doffed his cap, descended the dugout steps and hasn’t been seen since. Houston has hosted four postseason games inside Minute Maid Park. His groundball rate is epic, but New York could plate some early runs if he does struggle with command .’ He said, 'We need to win. Stanek hasn’t appeared in any of them. He did not warm up during either of the Astros’ wins against the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series. THE BAT has both pitchers projected for 4. An 18-inning marathon in Seattle all but forced the Astros to deploy Stanek in a high-leverage situation. We were about to take a selfie but then security guys got there and did their job. Stanek needed 11 pitches to procure three outs and force a 12th frame.  The F5 bet also gives us likely three plate appearances at the top of both orders which is huge when you consider how weak the Yankees are at bottom of their lineup. “I knew it was just a matter of time,” Stanek said after appearing in the ALDS clincher. “The game’s happened to go the way they went. With both starters having issues with delivering free passes on occasion, we could see some traffic with those long balls. Altuve was prepared to accommodate the man. I’m glad everyone went in there and got the job done. It’s just kind of a testament to what the bullpen’s done all year — pass the ball off to the next guy and get the job done.5 (-110).” Selflessness is crucial for maintaining clubhouse chemistry." A fan ran on the field, looks like trying to get a selfie with Jose Altuve. Stanek exuded it, but still finds himself in a precarious personal position. a team with a winning record. No American League reliever boasted a lower ERA in the regular season. He is, by every definition, a leverage reliever and could pitch pivotal innings for any of the three surviving playoff teams. The one employing him has a plethora of pitching riches and an emerging young reliever earning more trust throughout the postseason. Manager Dusty Baker and pitching coach Josh Miller’s actions across five October games have made one fact apparent: Bryan Abreu has supplanted Stanek within Houston’s bullpen hierarchy. Turning to him for the eighth inning Thursday only reinforced it. The team did not have setup man Rafael Montero available, had Stanek on five days of rest and still asked Abreu to start an inning featuring Aaron Judge. Abreu hung a slider to the American League home run king, but dodged a disaster when the missile Judge struck stalled at the right-field warning track. Abreu touched 99 mph twice to strike out Giancarlo Stanton with the tying run on base. “We got a couple guys that we could have turned to but we kind of felt that we kind of went with the hot hand,” Baker said afterward. “The hitters they had up, especially the lefthanded hitters, (Abreu has) been tough. He's been very tough. That's what gives us confidence.” Abreu’s ascension has come at Stanek’s expense. Myriad off days haven’t helped, either. Even before Abreu’s emergence, Houston had carved an end-of-game blueprint that did not include Stanek. Héctor Neris threw the seventh before Montero took the eighth, building a bridge to closer Ryan Pressly. Matchups sometimes switched Neris and Montero’s innings, but when the bullpen is fully rested, these are the three relievers Houston trusted to finish tight games during the second half. So many off days during and after the Division Series allowed the trio ample rest. Abreu allowed two earned runs and struck out 42 across the final 28 ⅓ regular-season innings he threw. Opponents had a .484 OPS against him and lefties could not touch him. Abreu morphed into the biggest swing-and-miss weapon in the Astros’ bullpen and Houston had no choice but to give him a bigger role. Abreu generates a 39.1 percent whiff rate. No Astros reliever has a higher one. A year after lefthanded hitters slashed .302/.393/.377 against him, Abreu held them to a . 494 OPS in 122 plate appearances and became a reverse-split pitcher — the same trait that made Stanek so valuable earlier this season. In a bullpen with no steady southpaw, Stanek’s splitter is a neutralizer. Both he and Neris throw the pitch, making them Houston’s early-season answer against lefthanded hitters. Opponents hit .173 and whiffed 52. 4 percent of the time against Neris’ splitter. Stanek yielded a .189 average and 44 percent whiff rate with his version. A better-performing splitter gives Neris an edge when a pocket of lefthanders is coming up. Abreu is commanding his four-seam fastball better than at any point in his major league career, too, turning him into a more viable weapon against lefties. Abreu flew open in his delivery far too much as a young pitcher. Better posture and staying closed has minimized his misses and allowed Abreu a sub-2 ERA. Analyzing any reliever’s effectiveness must extend beyond his ERA. The statistic offers an incomplete portrait of most pitchers, but especially relievers who throw in such small spurts and accrue small sample sizes. Make no mistake — Stanek’s 1. 15 ERA is magnificent. No qualified American League reliever had a lower one. Forty-nine of them did finish the regular season with a lower WHIP than Stanek’s 1.23 clip. Of the 76 qualified American League relievers, only Jake Diekman had a higher walk rate. Stanek walked 31 batters in 54 ⅔ innings, prolonging a problem that’s plagued him throughout a six-year major league career. .