Who should close in 2017?

By: Joshua Reese

One of the things the 2016 Houston Astros did well, was getting lots of different guys saves. Three "closers" had 10 or more saves last season, and while it's nice everyone had a chance to lock down the job, nobody did.

Luke Gregerson started off the season in the ninth but he faltered. Ace reliever Will Harris took over had some early success but like Gregerson, he also started to slip. Ken Giles the team's top offseason acquisition would get the final stretch, but despite his electric arm even he struggled.

As a team, the Astros converted 44 saves, even more than the season before when they went to the playoffs.

The problem is they had 20 blown saves, which is the 13th worst in the majors.

The Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Washinton Nationals, and the Chicago Cubs were the four teams with the fewest blown saves last season - spoiler alert all four made it to the postseason.

Blown saves are just a part of the game, your closer is going to have a rough game every once in a while. But lockdown closers just will have a lot less of them than others - see the 2016 Astros.

So the question is, who's closing on the Astros in 2017?

Unless the team goes out and lands a prime closer, which they still can. In spring training A.J. Hinch will likely have a few different guys to choose from.

Giles, Gregerson, and Harris are likely the favorites to land the job out of the gate. But there should be three more names added to this eventual competition.

Lance McCullers, Christopher Devenski, and Michael Feliz should also get a look at the job.

McCullers is pie in the sky and while he probably could be very effective in the role the Astros don't seem to have any interest in moving him out of a starting role despite arm concerns.

Devenski has earned a larger role on the team but the question is how large of a role. He was great last year and when the Astros needed an out he was the guy Hinch turned to.

While Devenski is consistent and solid, Feliz is more unpolished but he has a lot of electricity in his arm and showed a lot of flashes of being a great reliever.

With so much being invested in making the 2017 Houston Astros so much better, it's time to think beyond the retreads of Giles, Gregerson, and Harris.

Michael Feliz should be given the chance to spread his wings and prove that he's the next big thing in closing. Standing at 6'4, Feliz just looks like a closer on the mound.

His upper 90's fastball is hard to square up and his wicked slider is damn near unhittable as batters only were able to get a .163 batting average against it.

While Feliz may have just about the same electric stuff that Giles has (ended the season as closer), my trust goes to the bigger rightie.

Last year it was pretty easy to tell when Feliz was on or off, either he was throwing 98-99 and blowing people away or he was throwing 95-97 and getting hit.

Giles was more of a gamble and harder to figure out, consistently he was the same pitcher throwing the ball, just some days he'd get hit and you never really knew why. On top of that whenever someone would reach base for whatever reason, things just seemed to go downhill from there.

Feliz also had is problems but it seemed more manageable in terms of maybe he just needed more rest that day or something while for Giles it seems more random.

If you look through Feliz and Giles game log. You'll see that when Giles gave up a run, it usually meant a bad week for him,  Feliz on the other seemed to bounce back more often after bad outings.

Feliz like Devenski last year pitched in a lot of "dirty work" games, either when the team was trailing or in extra innings. He may have been a little less consistent than Devenski but it's easy to think Feliz will continue getting better.

Just because the Astros gave up a lot to get Giles does not mean he should just be given the spot.

The pressure of closing on a playoff team will their form you into a diamond or crush you into dust. I know for me I'd much rather see what Feliz can do in the ninth, then any other option that's currently on the team.

Three takeaways from the Diamondbacks series

Two games in Arizona and two games in Houston, it may not exactly be a "series" but it should be considered one. So after snagging three wins against the Diamondbacks the Astros have won three series in a row after the poor home sweep against the Rangers a couple weeks back.

The Astros are playing much better, and while they aren't getting near the top of the A.L. West it's certainly good to see, small steps baby!

Here are a few takeaways from the four games with the Diamondbacks.

George Springer really likes batting first 

After the Astros win over the Diamondbacks on Wednesday, I told George Springer the stats say he likes batting leadoff, then I asked him if there is there a reason for it? Without having the exact quote he pretty much said, now it's his job to get on base for Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa.

This season Springer is batting .409 leading off and .260 batting second. It may just be a hot streak but for whatever reason he's proven over the past two years leading off batting .297 that it suits him.

Springer batting lead off is a big reason the Astros are doing so well of late. His offense is finally starting to catch up to his amazing defensive game.

Time for a new closer

During the four-game series, Luke Gregerson only blew one game and the Astros still ended up winning the game. The series isn't alone a reason to call it quits on the Gregerson project, but it's time to seriously start thinking of a plan B.

The Astros have a couple of good relievers in the bullpen. Will Harris has been the Astros most solid relief pitcher since last season and it's unlikely they would move him away from his seventh/eighth inning role. But there are still four other guys you can give the ball too and it not be completely crazy.  
1) Scott Feldman has done pretty well coming out of the bullpen, even found some extra speed on his fastball. If you must require a veteran to close games Feldman would fill that role.

2) Ken Giles was brought to Houston to be the closer, he's not perfect but is now the time to give him a shot?

3) Chris Devenski seems to profile more as a starter but they keep using him in the bullpen, he's very effective, why not give him a shot?

4) Michael Feliz has got the nastiest stuff on the team and while they are using him in bigger roles little by little he's still not in the prime seventh/eighth/ninth inning roles.

Finally two catchers

Evan Gattis since getting a shot at catching has done a great job behind the backstop. You know what you are getting in offense from Gattis, a .240-.250 batting average with 15-20 homers.

Jason Castros has also done a bang-up job on the offensive end in the month of May with an on-base percentage over .400 and a batting average .268 (148 points higher than April).

For so long, the Astros have had Castro and insert random name of a backup catcher. None have really been very exciting offensive options. Now with Castro seemingly retapping back into his 2013 form and Gattis showing he can catch, the Astros could have a really interesting one-two punch.

Would you rather have Max Stassi or Erik Kratz over Gattis? Ok, so that's not much of choice but feel free to tell me what backup catcher is better than Gattis, not sure you are going to find many.

The franchise is back during the Twins series

Back to back wins, and a series win... It's almost too much to bear all at once. The Astros started off the Twins series with a loss in a game that     Dallas Keuchel pitched (at home no less), and you begin to think, oh no this is going to get really bad. They did manage to show out and take it to the Twins in the next two games.

Now that the positive vibes are flowing, below are three takeaways from the Twins series.

The franchise is back

No one wanted to talk about it, but Carlos Correa had been struggling big time over the past week or so. He hasn't had a long hitless streak but he hasn't been the dynamic player that he was last year (aside from the start of the year).

During the Twins series, he came back to form. In 11 at bats he had 4 hits, 2 walks and 4 RBI's. He is looking good, and when Correa is rollin so are the Astros.

The great white

A mainstay early in the season, he had only one start during this three-gamer. White ended up with 6 at bats during the series and went hitless. In the past seven games, he has one hit which is good enough for a .063 batting average.

Pitchers have adjusted to White after his crazy hot start, but he has yet to figure them out or get a new game plan.

If he doesn't start producing the next time the Astros need to send someone down to the minors. It just might be White.

Bullpen baby!

A starter can only go four innings? Who cares, the Astros have the bullpen to not only last the rest of the game but keep you in it. During the three-game series, the bullpen pitched 12 1/3 innings and only allowed one run. Let's be honest that's pretty damn good!

Michael Feliz ended up getting sent down after the last game but he gave them 4 hitless innings. Will Harris looks like the same rock star he was last year and even Ken Giles managed to pitch twice during the series and allowed no hits.

Scott Feldman has also seemed to excel in a relief role. The Astros pen aside from Giles and Josh Fields don't have guys that will blow it past you but they got a lot of quality "out getters."

A fresh new start for the Stros!

The end of April was pretty awful for the Astros with tough back to back losses. But on Sunday, they started a new month and so far one game into May it's treated them quite well with a 2-1 win over the Athletics.

The pitching during the series has looked pretty good, but the bats and offense has continued to plague them. They were able to stave off a sweep thanks to a really great performance by Dough Fister.

Below are three takeaways from the Athletics series.


Carlos Gomez

Carlos Gomez absence from today's lineup not related to base running gaffe. Left rib cage soreness. Expected out a couple days.

— Jake Kaplan (@jakemkaplan) April 30, 2016

Regardless the case, it was clear Carlos Gomez needed a little time off. If anything just to clear his mind and maybe reset his brain. He's trying no doubt, but it also looked like he was trying to do way to much. Taking bad hacks at pitches, trying to snag extra bases, etc.

Because the Astros sent Jake Marisnick down about a week ago, he hasn't been allowed to be recalled. If Gomez ends up needing more time Marisnick might be recalled in a few days after the 10-day waiting period is over.

Starting pitching

Mike Fiers, Chris Devenski, and Doug Fister managed to pitch 18.2 innings only allowing 5 earned runs. You'll take that production every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

Game one the Astros lost because the bullpen could not keep the lead Fiers gave them. Game two Devenski did a hell of a job and so did Scott Feldman they just got zero offense. Game three Fister pitched a great game and the bullpen was able to maintain the one-run lead as he handed it over to them.

"This is a tough ballpark for us to end games in recent history," A.J. Hinch said, "to be able to have the guys come in and do their job, Sipp comes in and gets two big outs over the course of two innings, and then Will Harris and then Luke Gregerson has a calm ninth, it was a well-pitched game all the way through."

A fresh start?

As you saw in the series the pitching is doing alright, the Astros should win every game where they only allow three runs. Ken Giles no longer pitching in the eighth inning might help the Astros bridge a lead into a win.

Expect to see Will Harris handle the bulk of the 8th-inning work for the Astros while Ken Giles works through his struggles.

— Jake Kaplan (@jakemkaplan) May 1, 2016

The offense does need to start kicking into gear and Sunday it was not a masterful showing but they got enough. The team does seem to be a little more patient of late but they need to start cashing in baserunners.

It's a brand new month, hopefully, the Astros can put the awful April behind them. May is the time they need to start to kick it into gear, a couple more bad weeks and they can kiss playoffs goodbye.

In April, the Astros went 7-17 and never won back to back games, so far in May, 1-0 baby! The Twins face the Astros at home and it could be a nice "get right" series.