NEW YORK — Coming into the postseason, Ryne StanekOne of the greatest relief pitchers in baseball. He had a 0.98 ERA in leverage situations during the final two months.
Those statistics don’t lie. The Astros’ righty reliever walked a few too many but hardly ever let anyone score.
So when it was the middle of the American League Championship Series and Stanek had only made one postseason appearance — out of necessity in an 18-inning affair — Houston manager Dusty Baker decided to have a conversation with his reliever.
“He came up to me,” Stanek said Saturday. “But I think it was more because other people had been making it a bigger deal than we made it. It happens. Just sometimes the game doesn’t flow in the direction to get me in. Yeah, I’d love to pitch every game. But that’s not how baseball works.”
In theory, however, these games are not possible. You can find it hereStanek was the beneficiary of this flow. Many close leads have been taken by the Astros. That’s a perfect time for a pitcher with a 1.15 ERA during the regular season and a 3.02 FIP who strikes out more than a batter an inning. It’s particularly true for a pitcher in a bullpen lacking a lefty and that has reverse splits to typically dominate lefty batters.
Ryne Stanley made his debut in the ALCS this summer. He scored the side. (📹 @PitchingNinja) pic.twitter.com/03HLgJ5KUA
— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) October 23, 2022
However, the Astros bullpen has been so great that the postseason roles for the team are much more clear. Hector NerisFirst out of the pen. Next Bryan Abreu. There’s Rafael MonteroFor the eighth. Ryan Pressley, the closer, for the ninth. It’s been formulaic and effective. Stanek doesn’t have any reason to change the way he thinks.
Stanek has pitched in two playoff games. He has recorded four strikeouts in just two innings. There have been no batters reaching. The 31-year old pitched in almost every 2021 postseason game. Only three of the 16 games he missed were his. This time, however, it has not been so.
“He’ll get in there, big-time,” Baker said in the middle of the ALCS. “And I talked to him about it. I just said, you know, you can’t pitch everybody all the time, and our starters have been doing so well. But I got to get him in there in order to keep him sharp.”
Stanek’s batting average against lefties this season was .175. He allowed only two home runs.
It’s likely that his 31 walks in 54 2/3 innings are what’s cut him out of the regular rotation this postseason. The other numbers are elite. He only allowed 36 hits. His whiff rate, which was 10 percent more than the league’s average, was also 10% higher. It’s just that his pitches were in the zone six percent less than the league average, as well.
The combination of this slight uncertainty and the wealth of options available to the Astros pen has resulted in a diminished role for them in the playoffs.
“It’s not been for any lack of trying,” Stanek said of not getting in games. “I don’t really look much into it. Because everybody’s throwing the ball good. There’s no story to be made of it. The bullpen’s been very good. It’s been a strong point for us all year.”
He’s mostly correct. Though it’s not a total non-story. The story is about a pitcher who had the numbers to escape a standardized position. It’s not because he failed. Because there are at least four or five men who are just as reliable.
It’s not just Stanek. Take, for instance: Will Smith. He was a mid-season arrival from Atlanta and had a 3.27 ERA and four walks in 22 innings. His reward? His reward? Not making it to the playoff roster, despite his being the only lefty reliever.
Then there’s Seth Martinez. He had a 2.09 ERA, allowed 26 hits in 38 1/3 innings and an ERA of plus 185. That’s 85 percent better than the league average. He didn’t make the postseason roster in the ALDS. And then he didn’t appear in an ALCS game. We’ll see if he makes the World Series roster.
There are many other examples. The story of the Astros’ bullpen depth can be told through the lens of who isn’t pitching.
“The bullpen is probably, if not the best, one of the best bullpens I’ve been a part of,” Astros ace Justin Verlander said. “Just really impressive. You see how hard it is to score runs against us … and that makes it a lot easier to win baseball games.”
Stanek might be in a critical, high-leverage position in the World Series. Houston has been able to score a series of incredible late leads that have allowed him to take a straight path to victory. The postseason typically isn’t that simple.
It is likely that this elite Houston pen will be tested. Stanek is the perfect example of how ready and deep this team will be for that moment when it comes.
(Photo by Ryne Stanek – John Minchillo / Associated Press
