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Astros, Rangers, Red Sox, Angels Among Teams Interested In Jordan Hicks

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December 5: The Angels and Red Sox have also checked in on Hicks, per Ari Alexander of KPRC 2. Both clubs could use some bullpen reinforcements, with Boston relievers having posted a collective 4.32 ERA in 2023 while the Angels were at 4.88.

December 4: The Astros, Rangers, Cardinals and Orioles are among the teams with interest in right-hander Jordan Hicks this offseason, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The Cardinals and Orioles having interest is no surprise since they had previously been linked to the 27-year-old earlier in the offseason. The connections to the Rangers and Astros, however, are new.

The Rangers make plenty of sense as a potential fit for Hicks. The reigning World Series champions got excellent results out of their offense and starting pitching in 2023, but faced significant struggles in the bullpen. The club’s relief corps combined for a 4.77 ERA that was bottom-seven in the majors, while the group’s 4.45 FIP and 2.6 fWAR were also bottom-ten figures. The Twins, Diamondbacks, and Marlins were the only other playoff teams to feature a bottom-ten bullpen in even one of those three categories, and no club besides the Rangers appeared in the bottom of those leaderboards more than once.

That acute need for bullpen additions has led the Rangers to be frequently connected to top-of-the-market closer Josh Hader, who posted a sensational season in 2023 with a 1.28 ERA and a 36.8% strikeout rate while picking up 33 saves in 56 1/3 innings of work with the Padres. That being said, Hader has a chance to land a record-breaking contract in free agency this offseason, with MLBTR projecting the lefty for a six-year, $110MM contract on our annual Top 50 MLB Free Agents list, on which he ranks eighth overall. Coming off a World Series championship in 2023 and a pair of offseasons where they were among the league’s biggest spenders, it’s possible that sort of contract won’t be a problem for Texas.

That being said, GM Chris Young recently cautioned that the club doesn’t expect to spend quite as lavishly this offseason as they have the past two winters. If the Rangers do find that Hader is out of their price range, Hicks could represent a more affordable alternative who has still flashed elite upside as a late-inning arm. Hicks, who was the second-highest rated reliever (#21 overall) on MLBTR’s list with a projected price tag of four years and $40MM, boasts a triple-digit fastball with sinking action that allows him to post groundball rates near 60% on a yearly basis.

While control and injury issues have dogged Hicks throughout his career, the righty is still three seasons away from his 30th birthday and impressed this season with a career-high 28.4% strikeout rate. While his 3.29 ERA hardly jumps off the page for a back-end relief arm, it’s worth noting that Hicks’ season numbers are skewed by a brutal early-season performance where he surrendered nine runs (eight earned) in just 5 2/3 innings across seven appearances. After that point, Hicks boasted a sterling 2.40 ERA and 2.59 FIP with a 30% strikeout rate against a 9.6% walk rate in his final 60 innings of work. While its not reasonable to simply ignore a rocky start to the season entirely, Hicks’s strong performance after the first two weeks of his season does highlight the tantalizing upside the right-hander has flashed throughout his career.

The Astros, on the other hand, are a somewhat less obvious suitor. Veteran righty Ryan Pressly is entrenched as the club’s closer, while young hurler Bryan Abreu has emerged as one of the best young relief arms in the league with a 1.84 ERA and 2.59 FIP across the past two seasons. That duo led the Astros’ relief corps to a sterling 3.56 ERA in 2023, the sixth-best figure in the league. Houston’s bullpen sports similarly strong advanced metrics, as only six clubs posted a better collective SIERA than the Astros’ 3.79 figure.

Good as the club’s relief corps was in 2023, however, it’s important to note that the Astros have since lost key pieces such as Hector Neris, Ryne Stanek, and Phil Maton to free agency. While Pressly and Abreu certainly make for a strong back-end duo, Houston looking to replace those outgoing arms is hardly a surprise, and few options available figure to be better than Hicks. While the Astros clearly need additional relief arms to supplement the roster, it’s fair to wonder if Hicks is the most realistic target for the club from a financial perspective. GM Dana Brown cautioned earlier in the offseason that the club doesn’t have “a ton” of financial flexibility to work with this winter while telling reporters he’s “not interested in overpaying” for bullpen arms.

Given the club’s limited financial flexibility, it would register as something of a surprise for the Astros to commit a hefty sum to a single reliever given their other needs. The Astros are known to be in the market for a backup catcher in addition to bullpen, to say nothing of the possibility they look to add a left-handed bat to replace Michael Brantley or shore up a starting rotation lacking in certainty behind Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez. While it’s impossible to deny that the addition of Hicks to a bullpen that already features Abreu and Pressly could create a three-headed monster that few teams could replicate, it’s fair as a wonder if a cheaper option could be more feasible for Houston from a financial perspective. One such option could be a reunion with Hector Neris, who The Athletic’s Chandler Rome relayed this evening Brown has been in contact with. MLBTR ranked Neris, who posted a 1.71 ERA and 3.83 FIP in 68 1/3 innings for the Astros last year, as the offseason’s #46 free agent while projecting him for a two-year, $15MM deal.

Hector Neris Declines Player Option With Astros

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Right-hander Hector Neris will test free agency after declining his player option for the 2024 season, MLB Trade Rumors has learned.  Neris passed a postseason physical, which was the final step in turning the Astros’ $8.5MM club option (with a $1MM buyout) for 2024 into a player option.  The terms of Neris’ two-year, $17MM deal with Houston allowed that club option to vest into a player option if Neris made at least 110 appearances over the 2022-23 seasons, and the righty easily passed that benchmark with 141 games pitched.

Neris turned 34 back in June, yet doesn’t appear to be slowing down at all, considering that he posted a 1.71 ERA over 68 1/3 innings in 2023.  An 11.4% walk rate is a red flag, yet most of Neris’ other metrics were well above average, and he was one of baseball’s best at limiting hard contact.  A 3.89 SIERA might be a better reflection of Neris’ 2023 performance given his walk rate and his .219 BABIP, yet in some sense, Neris’ luck was evening out after a 2022 season that saw him post a 3.72 ERA but a 2.70 SIERA.

The combined result is a 2.69 ERA/3.29 SIERA over Neris’ two seasons in an Astros uniform, as well as 56 holds in a setup role in front of closer Ryan Pressly.  With Rafael Montero, Phil Maton, and Bryan Abreu also contributing to a strong late-game mix, Neris was routinely called upon to shut down batters in the seventh or eighth inning, with generally impressive results.  In addition to his regular-season work, Neris also had a 1.50 ERA over six innings and eight appearances during the 2022 playoffs, helping the Astros win the World Series.

There wasn’t much suspense that Neris would test the market again, as he should be able to land another multi-year deal coming off of this strong performance.  The 10-year MLB veteran formerly worked as the Phillies’ closer early in his career, so he might have some extra appeal to a team that could use at least a backup option for save situations, even if Neris is likely going to be targeted as a setup man by most of his suitors.  Neris looks to be one of the better options available in a typically crowded bullpen market, and some options are already off the board since the Braves re-signed Joe Jimenez and Pierce Johnson.

Yainer Diaz To Be Astros’ Primary Catcher In 2024

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Astros’ general manager Dana Brown spoke with KPRC 2 recently about the club’s priorities. He naturally listed bullpen as a target area with Phil Maton, Hector Neris and Ryne Stanek set to become free agents. He also said that the club will need a backup catcher for Yainer Diaz, who is going to be “the main guy next year.”

The Astros have been employing Martín Maldonado as their primary backstop in recent years, which certainly hasn’t been because of his bat. Though he had a nice showing at the plate in the shortened 2020 season, he has hit .183/.260/.333 in 1,212 plate appearances over the past three years. That amounts to a wRC+ of 66, indicating he was 34% worse than the league average hitter over that stretch.

Despite that tepid offense, he has been a valuable member of the Astros in that time thanks to his glovework and his handling of the pitching staff. But his defensive numbers slid a bit in 2023, hardly surprising since he is now 37 years old. With his contract now expiring, it seems the club is planning to move on.

That decision has been made easier by the emergence of Diaz, who had a breakout year in 2023. His 2.9% walk rate is quite low, but he also limited his strikeouts to a 19.6% rate. He launched 23 home runs and produced a line of .282/.308/.538 for a wRC+ of 127. Among catchers with at least 350 plate appearances for the year, only Sean Murphy had a higher wRC+ mark, with his 129 just two points ahead.

But with Maldonado behind the plate most days, a lot of that production took place while Diaz wasn’t catching. He did get 42 starts as the catcher but also 36 as the designated hitter and seven at first base. It’s hard to get meaningful data from that small sample of work behind the plate but, for what it’s worth, Statcast liked his blocking and work with the running game. However, each of Statcast, FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus considered his framing to be subpar. Regardless of the details, the overall body of work was strong and it’s logical the club wants to give him the gig next year.

Diaz is only 25 so it’s entirely possible there’s still room to grow. He has just over a year of service time, meaning he won’t qualify for arbitration before the end of 2025 and isn’t slated for free agency until after 2028. Perhaps the club will face some challenges in moving from a respected veteran to a far younger catcher, but those concerns could be ameliorated somewhat by bringing in a veteran to support Diaz.

Maldonado could perhaps be that veteran, though it might be tough for the club to bring him back and then limit him to a part-time role. Other options on the free agent market include Austin Hedges, Yasmani Grandal, Victor Caratini and Tucker Barnhart. The trade market could feature guys like Jacob Stallings of the Marlins or Kyle Higashioka of the Yankees.

As Brown outlines, targeting bullpen help will be a logical move with Maton, Stanek and Neris headed for the open market. Neris actually has a player option and no decision has been publicly reported on that, but it sounds like Brown is expecting him to turn it down. That’s not surprising since Neris posted a 1.71 ERA in 2023. He won’t be able to sustain a .219 batting average on balls in play or 90.5% strand rate, which is why his 3.83 FIP and 3.89 SIERA were more than two runs above his ERA. But nonetheless, he recorded 31 holds and a couple of saves while striking out 28.2% of batters faced. It’s a net $7.5MM decision, with the option valued at $8.5MM with a $1MM buyout. He probably won’t be able to get his ERA under 2.00 again but he should still be able to beat that guarantee on the open market.

Brown noted that some of the replacements could be internal but they may look to make some moves this winter as well. Josh Hader is the top reliever available but there are also names like Jordan Hicks, Matt Moore, Reynaldo López, Robert Stephenson and many more.

Financially, the club may be walking a tricky line, unless they want to break their own tendencies. They have generally tried to stay under the competitive balance tax, which will have a base threshold of $237MM next year. The club is already at $231MM for next year, per the calculations of Roster Resource, though Neris opting out will drop that below $225MM. Adding a backup catcher and a reliever won’t necessarily break the bank, but it doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room if they want to stay under the tax again in 2024.

West Notes: Angels, Rockies, Neris

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The Angels have operated with a six-man rotation for the past several years, though that could change in 2024, as noted by Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. GM Perry Minasian told reporters recently that the size of next year’s rotation is something they’ve “discussed at length” and that they’re comfortable with a five-man rotation next season, saying that the club feels “the arms we have in-house can handle it.”

Minasian’s comments would seem to imply that the club doesn’t expect to make any external additions in terms of starting pitchers this offseason. Of course, a five-man rotation is made possible by the absence of two-way star Shohei Ohtani, though as Fletcher notes the comments aren’t necessarily indicative of the Angels’ opinion on his likelihood to re-sign in Anaheim. After all, Ohtani isn’t expected to pitch until the 2025 season after undergoing elbow surgery.

If the Angels indeed rely on their current group of starters next year, the rotation figures to be fronted by lefties Patrick Sandoval and Reid Detmers, while righty Griffin Canning and veteran southpaw Tyler Anderson look to occupy the middle of the club’s rotation. The fifth (and, potentially, sixth) starter spots seem more unclear, with Chase Silseth, Jose Suarez, Jaime Barria, and Kenny Rosenberg among those to draw starts for the club this season who could get a look next year.

More from around MLB’s West Divisions…

  • The Rockies have a bit of a logjam between first base, right field, and DH headed into next year, as noted by Luke Zahlmann of the Denver Gazette, as he listed each of Kris Bryant, Charlie Blackmon, Elehuris Montero, Sean Bouchard, and Michael Toglia as each vying for playing time at the three positions. Bryant and Blackmon figure to be regular players, though that would leave just one spot for the other three, a situation that Zahlmann ties to the club’s desire to add additional starting pitching depth this offseason. Dangling a player from that mix in trade talks could allow the Rockies to complement a rotation that currently figures to enter 2024 with plenty of question marks, and Zahlmann even notes that top prospects like Zac Veen and Jordan Beck could be dangled “in the right deal.” Of course, the 103-loss Rockies would surely require a quality starter with multiple years of control if they were to part with any of their top-100 prospects in a trade for pitching this offseason.
  • Astros right-hander Hector Neris was fined by MLB for his role in a benches-clearing altercation between Houston and Seattle in late September, per GM Dana Brown (as relayed by The Athletic’s Chandler Rome), though Brown added that he does not believe Neris will be suspended for the incident. Neris shouted at and charged toward Rodriguez after striking him out during last week’s 8-3 win over the Mariners, causing both benches to clear. That Neris figures to avoid a suspension is great news for the Astros, as he’s been nothing short of dominant this year. The 34-year-old righty sports a 1.71 ERA and a 3.83 FIP across 71 appearances with the club this year. Neris figures to hold a $8.5MM player option for the 2024 campaign, so long as he passes a physical after the end of the season.

Hector Neris Reaches 110 Astros Appearances, Converts 2024 Option

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Astros right-hander Hector Neris made his 110th appearance tonight since signing a two-year, $17MM deal with Houston prior to the 2022 season. Tonight’s appearance triggered a clause in that contract converts the deal’s $8.5MM team option ($1MM buyout) into a player option. Neris needed to reach either 60 appearances in 2023 or 110 appearances between 2022 and 2023 to convert the option. With tonight’s appearance in the books, the 34-year-old righty will have control of the option this coming offseason, though the Associated Press notes that if Neris ends the 2023 campaign on the injured list or fails to pass a physical after the season, the Astros will retain control of the option.

If the second half of Neris’s 2023 campaign goes as well as the first half has, the righty will surely decline the option if given the opportunity. Prior to tonight’s scoreless outing, Neris boasted a 1.47 ERA in 36 2/3 innings of work, good for a whopping 287 ERA+. Neris’s peripherals leave room for some mild concern: he sports a rather high 10.4% walk rate, has stranded a whopping 95.8% of baserunners, and has allowed a career-low .232 BABIP. Of course, the regression one might expect given those numbers is baked into advanced metrics. Those metrics are rather bullish on Neris: the righty sports a solid 3.73 FIP, an excellent 2.76 xERA and a strong 3.55 SIERA.

Neris will be entering his age-35 season in 2024, so it’s possible that his age will limit any multi-year offers he receives in free agency. Even if that turns out to be the case, however, it’s certainly feasible for Neris could surpass the $7.5MM he’d be leaving on the table by testing the open market. After all, David Robertson landed a one-year, $10MM deal with the Mets last offseason entering his age-38 campaign after posting a 2.40 ERA and 3.58 FIP in his first fully healthy season since 2018.

In the meantime, Neris figures to be the Astros’ top setup option for closer Ryan Pressly as Houston looks to defend its 2022 World Series championship. The club is currently 50-40, two games back of the Rangers for control of the AL West and one game ahead of the Yankees and Blue Jays for the second of three AL Wild Card spots.

Upcoming Club Option Decisions: AL West

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Last week, MLBTR took an early look at offseason option decisions facing teams in the National League. We’re continuing our division by division series moving through the Junior Circuit. To round out the series, we move to the AL West. There are only five players in the division whose contracts contain options but they’re spread among every team aside from the Mariners.

Previous posts: NL East, NL Central, NL West, AL East, AL Central

Houston Astros

  • Hector Neris: $8.5MM club option ($1MM buyout); converts to player option with 40 appearances in 2023

Neris’ option is presently a club provision, but it’s not likely to be for much longer. His free agent deal with the Astros allowed him to convert the third-year option into a player provision in a few ways — one of which was by making a combined 110 appearances between 2022-23. The bullpen workhorse pitched 70 times last year, leaving him just 40 shy of the mark entering 2023. (As is common for provisions like these, he’ll also have to pass a physical at season’s end.)

Manager Dusty Baker has already called upon Neris 25 times this season. He needs just 15 more outings to turn this into a player provision. That’s a lock barring a major injury, with Neris potentially triggering the mark by the All-Star Break.

That could prove lucrative, as he’s building a strong case for another multi-year free agent deal. Neris carries a 1.13 ERA over 24 frames. While he’s obviously not going to keep preventing runs at quite that pace, he’s fanning over 31% of opponents and picking up swinging strikes on a huge 15.4% of his offerings. Even nearing age 34, Neris could push for a two-year deal in the $15-20MM range, where the likes of Joe Kelly and Chris Martin have landed in recent seasons.

Los Angeles Angels

The Halos signed Loup to a two-year, $17MM free agent deal over the 2021-22 offseason. He was effective enough in year one, though the Angels probably expected better than a 3.84 ERA with a 20% strikeout rate over 58 2/3 innings. That’d be a marked improvement over Loup’s early results this year, however. The 35-year-old has allowed 12 runs (10 earned) with 11 strikeouts and six walks over 13 1/3 frames. Los Angeles looks likely to take the buyout.

Oakland A’s

Oakland took a low-cost flier on Rucinski last winter. They signed him to a $3MM guarantee with a promised rotation spot after he’d been an effective starter in South Korea for four seasons. The 34-year-old righty hasn’t had a chance to get on track. He began the year on the injured list with a hamstring strain. He returned to make four starts and was tagged for 22 runs with a ghastly 6:14 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 18 innings. Rucinski went back on the IL a few weeks ago with an illness. It’s been a disastrous first couple months and the option is trending towards a declination.

The A’s acquired Piña as a veteran complement to Shea Langeliers in the Sean Murphy trade. He’d been limited to five games last year thanks to a left wrist injury that required surgery. Complications with the wrist flared up in Spring Training and he’s spent this season on the IL as well. The A’s are likely to cut him loose at year’s end.

Texas Rangers

At his best, Leclerc looks like a quality high-leverage reliever. He misses tons of bats and routinely pushes or exceeds a 30% strikeout rate. Yet he’s paired those whiffs with plenty of free passes. Control has become especially problematic this year, as he’s dished out walks to almost 16% of opponents. Leclerc is carrying a sub-3.00 ERA but benefitting from a .256 average on balls in play.

Leclerc started slowly last season after working back from Tommy John surgery. He caught fire down the stretch, leading Texas to exercise a $6MM option for 2023. There’s still time for him to repeat that pattern but he’ll have to dial in the strike-throwing to do so.

Each MLB Team’s Players On WBC Rosters

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The World Baseball Classic is returning this year, the first time since 2017. The quadrennial event was supposed to take place in 2021 but was scuttled by the pandemic, now returning after a six-year absence. Rosters for the tournament were announced today and those can be found at this link. Here is a breakdown of which players from each MLB team are set to take participate. Quick caveat that this list is fluid and might be changed as more information becomes available.

Without further ado…

Angels

Astros

Athletics

Blue Jays

Braves

Brewers

Cardinals

Cubs

Diamondbacks

Dodgers

Giants

Guardians

Marlins

Mariners

Mets

Nationals

Orioles

Padres

Phillies

Pirates

Rangers

Rays

Red Sox

Reds

Rockies

Royals

Tigers

Twins

White Sox

Yankees

Texas Notes: No-Hitter, Pena, McCullers, Duran, Hearn, Garver

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Cristian Javier, Hector Neris, and Ryan Pressly combined for the 14th no-hitter in Astros history, as Houston earned a 3-0 win over the Yankees today in the Bronx.  Javier handled much of the work over seven innings, with Neris and Pressly each contributing an inning of hitless pitching to stifle the lineup of the league-leading Yankees.  It was the first time in over 19 years that New York had been no-hit, also at hands of the Astros — six Houston pitchers blanked the Yankees on June 11, 2003.

More from both the Astros and Rangers, as we run down baseball news from the Lone Star State….

  • Jeremy Pena is likely to return to Houston’s lineup on Sunday, as the rookie shortstop took batting practice today.  Left thumb discomfort sent Pena to the 10-day injured list on June 15, though an MRI didn’t reveal any damage.  It thankfully looks like only a minor injury for Pena, and he’ll now get to resume his outstanding rookie season.  Making his MLB debut earlier this year, Pena has hit .277/.333/.471 with nine homers over his first 211 plate appearances, though his hot bat had been cooling off in the two weeks prior to his IL stint.
  • Lance McCullers Jr. was the pitcher throwing to Pena, with McCullers tossing around 20 pitches during the overall BP session.  McCullers told MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart and other reporters that his repertoire included changeups, sinkers, and a slider, and he was throwing as hard as 93mph.  Since suffering a flexor tendon strain during last year’s postseason and then a rehab setback in January, McCullers has been slowly working his way back, and is still likely a month or so away from a minor league rehab assignment.
  • After today’s 3-2 win over the Nationals, the Rangers optioned left-hander Taylor Hearn and infielder Ezequiel Duran to Triple-A.  Corresponding moves will be made prior to tomorrow’s game.  Hearn was the bulk pitcher in today’s bullpen game, allowing only two walks over four scoreless innings, though it was a rare quality outing an otherwise rough season for the southpaw.  Even with today’s game on his ledger, Hearn still has a 5.86 ERA over 63 innings, starting 13 of his 14 games.  Texas called Duran up to the majors for his MLB debut earlier this month, and the top-100 prospect hit .258/.281/.435 with two home runs over 64 PA.  Duran had been seeing most of the playing time at third base, but with Josh Smith now back from the IL, Duran will continue his development with an everyday role at Triple-A rather than part-time duty in the Show.
  • Mitch Garver went 0-for-2 with a walk against the Nats today, dropping the veteran’s slash line to .201/.288/.383 for the season, over 170 PA.  Garver has been trying to play through a damaged flexor tendon in his throwing forearm, but he told reporters (including Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News) that he would make a decision by the All-Star break whether or not to undergo season-ending surgery.  With a 7-8 month recovery time required for the surgery, Garver would miss little to none of Spring Training by getting the procedure relatively soon.  It is possible Garver could instead try to rehab the forearm problem without surgery, but Grant writes “that route is more uncertain” in terms of a recovery timeline or what it might mean for Garver’s 2023 season.  Since suffering the flexor injury, Garver hasn’t been able to play catcher, so the Rangers have been limiting him to DH or pinch-hitting duty.

MLB Suspends Hector Neris, Dusty Baker

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Major League Baseball announced this evening that Astros reliever Héctor Neris has been suspended four games “for intentionally throwing at Eugenio Suárez of the Mariners in the area of the head while warnings were in place.” He was also fined an undisclosed amount. Neris is appealing the ban, reports Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). He’ll remain on the active roster while the appeal runs its course.

Houston skipper Dusty Baker was suspended for one game and fined an undisclosed amount on account of Neris’ actions. That’s standard procedure in these situations, and Baker will miss tonight’s game as a result. (Managers are not afforded any appellate rights). Bench coach Joe Espada will be the acting manager in his stead, tweets Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Espada himself was hit with a fine, as were fellow Houston staff members Omar López and Troy Snitker and Seattle manager Scott Servais.

The discipline comes out of last night’s contest, when benches cleared after Neris hit Mariners infielder Ty France in the top of the ninth inning. While France didn’t seem to take umbrage with the pitch itself, the benches began jawing after a dispute about whether the pitch actually struck him. Servais and López were ejected and the sides were warned.

Julio Rodríguez followed the France hit-by-pitch with a two-run homer. Two batters later, Neris sailed a fastball behind Suárez’s head, and home plate umpire Chris Guccione ejected both Neris and Baker. MLB has judged the offering to Suárez to be intentional, leading to the suspensions. Last night’s contest was the opener of a three-game set between the AL West rivals.

Astros Sign Hector Neris

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The Astros have made an addition to their bullpen, announcing a two-year contract with reliever Hector Neris. The deal, which reportedly guarantees $17MM, also contains a 2024 option valued at $8.5MM ($1MM buyout). That’s currently a club option, but Neris can vest that provision into a player option in any of three ways: making at least 50 appearances in both 2022 and 2023, making 60 appearances in 2023 alone, or making a combined 110 appearances over the next two seasons. Neris is represented by Brian Mejia and Ulises Cabrera of Octagon Baseball.

The former Phillies’ closer was reportedly in high demand, despite being the face of a bullpen in Philadelphia that led the league in blown saves. Neris himself notched 12 saves and 11 holds, but also seven blown saves while tossing 74 1/3 innings across 74 games. He had a 3.63 ERA/4.08 FIP while pairing a strong 31.6 percent strikeout rate with a less-than-ideal 10.3 percent walk rate.

To his credit, Neris kept the ball on the ground more frequently than usual, logging a 48.9 percent groundball rate. The Phillies were hardly known for their infield defense, but that’s a positive sign nonetheless as he heads to Houston. In total, Neris was credited with 1.4 rWAR, a solid number for a reliever.

The 32-year-old has spent his entire eight-year career with the Phillies, totaling 405 appearances and a career 3.42 ERA/3.79 FIP. The Dominican right-hander was originally signed by the Phillies back in 2010 as an amateur free agent. Despite moving in and out of the closer role during his time in Philly, Neris was an overall positive contributor going back to 2015.

He’ll now embark on the next chapter of his career in Houston, where he steps in to assume Kendall Graveman’s late inning responsibilities. Graveman, acquired midseason from the Mariners, recently signed a three-year, $24MM deal. The Astros will pay Neris a half million more per season, but with only a two-year commitment, which tracks market-wise, given that Neris is two years older than Graveman.

Neris will team with fellow righties Ryne Stanek, Phil Maton, Pedro Baez, and Rafael Montero to try and bridge the gap from the starter to closer Ryan Pressly. If nothing else, the Astros can rest assured that Neris can handle the mental burden of pitching for an often-maligned franchise in Houston. Having spent so long in Philly, Neris should be used to hearing his share of criticism on the hill.

Neris leans heavily on a 84 mph split finger, which has long been the bell cow offering of his arsenal. He’s especially reliant on the split versus lefties, against whom he uses the split finger roughly 50 percent of the time. For comparison’s sake, he went to the split just 36.9 percent of the time against right-handers. For same-handed hitters, he leans heavily on a 94.1 mph four-seamer (43.9 percent usage rate) and a 94.8 mph sinker (31.1 percent usage rate).

He has also occasionally toyed with a slider against righties, which he threw just 44 times last year – only thrice to lefties – though the breaker wasn’t particularly effective for Neris. Against lefties, Neris throws the heater 37.3 percent of the time, while dialing back usage on his sinker. On the whole, the split finger has been his most effective pitch, producing a mere .152 expected batting average and .240 expected slugging. He finished 2021 in the 93rd percentile for both whiff rate and chase rate while finishing in the 91st percentile for strikeout rate.

Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia first reported the Astros were signing Neris to a two-year deal. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported the $17MM guarantee. Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reported the presence of the 2024 option and its specific provisions.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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