Josh Hader, Bryan Abreu concerns make Astros’ bullpen one of MLB’s worst originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Houston Astros came into the season with their closer, Josh Hader, on the 60-day injured list.
That was the starting point for a recipe for disaster, as the rest of the bullpen has not picked up the slack, not even flamethrower Bryan Abreu.
Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller ranked Houston’s bullpen as the second-worst in the Majors.
“Not having Josh Hader (biceps) yet this season has left the Astros without an established closer. Meanwhile, Bryan Abreu has gotten out to a positively disastrous start to the year after a four-year stretch as maybe the most reliable setup man in all of baseball,” Miller wrote Tuesday. “His 12.96 ERA through 10 appearances is at the forefront of Houston’s bullpen-wide, MLB-worst ERA of 6.31.”
AJ Blubaugh and Enyel De Los Santos, two of Houston’s primary middle relievers, both have an ERA above 6.00. One of the major bright spots has been Kai-Wei Teng, who could make spot starts down the road.
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“Astros relievers have also combined for 10 losses, but only one blown save, oddly enough. That spared them from dead last,” Miller added.
For the Astros, Hader cannot come back fast enough. But they’ll also need Abreu to return to form if they want to gain ground in the AL West.
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