The Astros have agreed to a minor league deal with left-handed reliever Steven Okert, per their transaction log at MLB.com. He’ll be in camp as a non-roster invitee in spring training and would earn $1.2MM upon making the roster, MLBTR has learned. The contract contains additional incentives and multiple opt-out dates for the veteran southpaw.
Okert, 33, spent the 2024 season with the Twins organization after they acquired him in an offseason swap sending utilityman Nick Gordon to the Marlins. He appeared in 44 games and pitched 35 1/3 innings with a 5.09 earned run average. Minnesota designated Okert for assignment over the summer and sent him outright to Triple-A. He became a minor league free agent at season’s end.
Despite the rough run-prevention numbers in ’24, Okert has a solid track record of missing bats. His strikeout rate dipped to 20.6% with the Twins, and it’s of note that he did lose about a mile per hour off both his four-seamer and slider. However, from 2021-23, Okert was a mainstay in the Marlins’ bullpen and pitched well, logging a 3.51 ERA in 146 frames while picking up plenty of punchouts. He fanned 28.9% of his opponents in that stretch, and while his 10.7% walk rate was a couple percentage points north of average, he generally avoided opponents’ barrels well enough to mitigate those free passes.
Okert still avoided hard contact nicely with the Twins — in fact posting career-low marks in average exit velocity and opponents’ hard hit rate. When opponents did barrel him up, however, it was too often for maximum damage. Okert’s 1.53 homers per nine frames were the highest of his career by a wide margin. That, paired with more balls in play due to the dip in strikeout rate, worked against the 6’2″ southpaw.
The Astros will try to restore some of the velo and whiffs that Okert lost in 2024. If they’re able to help him right the ship, they’ll be picking up a lefty reliever who pitched quite well from ’21-’23 at a low cost. Beyond closer Josh Hader, the ’Stros only have two other left-handed relievers on their 40-man roster: Bryan King, who has all of 26 1/3 MLB innings to his credit, and Bennett Sousa, who has 29 1/3 MLB frames and missed the 2024 season following thoracic outlet surgery. Adding some affordable lefty depth to the bullpen makes sense, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see another signing or two along these lines.
Actually, for the Marlins, his 21 and 22 seasons were very good, but in ’23 he became inconsistent. I saw the trade for Gordon as disappointment for disappointment.
Junk pitchers just because need a lefty. Astros have a reputation for thinking can rebuild someone. With our pitching and hitting staff and even lousy management all around.