How Ryne Stanek, despite record-setting year, became odd man out in Astros' leverage relief corps
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.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 1.15 mark.
Selflessness is crucial for maintaining clubhouse chemistry. Stanek exuded it, but still finds himself in a precarious personal position. 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.
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.
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