Astros’ All-Time Best Seasons: Closing Pitchers

This is the tenth installment in our Astros’ All-Time Best Seasons Series. To catch up on who various writers chose as their top five at each position, please view the links below. Also, be sure to vote on your favorites as soon as possible! On February 22, Thomas will recap the entire series.

• Starting Pitching
• Catchers
• First Base
• Second Base
• Third base
• Shortstop
• Left Field
• Center Field
• Right Field

The discussion on closing pitchers is my second contribution to this series at Climbing Tal’s Hill. I have always been more fascinated with pitching and defense, so I really appreciate the opportunity to learn about Astros history.

Given my young age, I don’t have many memories from the late 90’s. In the early days of Minute Maid Park, I do recall the left field line once featuring a radar gun, occasionally flashing triple-digit heat from the original Sandman, alongside various stock prices.

So here are my selections for the top-5 seasons among closers in Astros’ history.

Next: 1987: Dave Smith

Dave Smith, a native of California, was selected in the 8th round out of college by the Houston Astros in the 1976 draft.

Dave Smith (Credit: Bob Timmermann)

“The pitcher made his big league debut on April 11, 1980, when he allowed one hit and walked two in a one-inning relief appearance against the Dodgers.” – Alyson Footer

He went on to finish that season with a 1.93 ERA across 102 2/3 innings out of the bullpen. That performance earned him 5th in the 1980 NL Rookie-of-the-Year voting process.

The Astros finished in a tie with the Los Angeles Dodgers during 1980. After a one-game playoff for the division champions, the Astros won and qualified for the postseason for the first time in their history.

Smith appeared in 3 games during the National League Championship Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Although he was 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA in 2 1/3 innings, the Astros lost the series 3-2. Smith continued to be a key component of the Astros bullpen for the next ten seasons. He did make an appearance in each year that the Astros made the postseason in the 1980’s.

Dave’s best season as an Astros came in the 1987 campaign. It’s true that Smith had more saves during the 1986 season. But in terms of doing his job, he did better in 1987:

• 1.65 ERA
• 1.54 FIP
• 1.00 WHIP
• 24 saves/29 opportunities (82.8%)
• 60 innings pitched
• 0 home runs allowed
• 5.9 H/9
• 73 strikeouts to 21 walks (3.48 K/BB)

Smith retired following the 1992 season with the Chicago Cubs. Over his 13-year career he saved 216 games to go with a 53-53 record across 603 total appearances. Dave Smith passed away, aged-53, in 2008 following a heart attack.

Next: 1992: Doug Jones

Our next closer is Doug Jones, who actually joined the Astros as a free agent prior to the 1992 season. Doug was a three-time all-star with the Cleveland Indians during the first seven years of his career. Jones came to Houston with a 3.08 ERA and 129 saves credited to his name.

Doug Jones (Credit: Houston Astros)

Just for fun: Jones’ earned salary figures of $1,650,000 in ’92 while getting a pay raise to $2,500,000 for the 1993 season. Baseball-reference notes that the former season includes $900,000 in earned bonuses; latter $450,000.

Onward to his 1992 stats:

• 1.85 ERA
• 2.29 FIP
• 1.012 WHIP
• 36 saves/42 opportunities (85.7%)
• 70 games finished
• 111 2/3 innings pitched
• 5 home runs allowed (0.4 HR/9)
• 93 strikeouts to 17 walks (5.47 K/BB)

Jones finished his career with a sub .500 record. Following an 18-year career that saw him suit up for 7 MLB teams, Jones finished with 303 saves and 3.30 ERA. With a career strikeout to inning rate less than 1 (909/1128), I had doubts that he had great velocity. Jones’ success as a closer was actually a circle-change up that helped him establish a career despite a mid-80’s fastball.

Next: 1999: Billy Wagner

Enter Sandman

Our third best season in this post was crafted by Billy Wagner. When discussing closers the other day, my friend said that Wagner is the most underrated closing pitcher in MLB history. That might not be saying much as the save was not an official statistic until the 1969 season. Regardless, the original Sandman was a tremendous asset for the Houston Astros.

“Billy Wagner was unique, but beyond being unique, he was really, really good. He was a strikeout machine, capable of blowing his pitches past just about anyone in any situation. His fastball was a legend, and his slider was enough to keep hitters off-balance, at the least.” – Bryan Grosnick

“Billy the Kid” was his nickname. Rightly so. Standing 5’10”, a figure many call generous, was tiny for a closer. Another interesting fact is that Wagner threw left-handed. But Wagner was not born left-handed. He broke his right arm playing football at his grandparents house. With a strong desire to play, he taught himself how to use his left arm. He even broke his right arm immediately after the cast came off the first time.

The Astros selected Wagner out of college in the 1993 draft with their first pick, the 12th overall selection. Wagner quickly accelerated up the Baseball America prospect rankings: #78 pre-1994, #17 pre-1995 and #14 pre-1996. On September 13, 1995 Billy made his MLB debut. His only appearance of the season was a fly out to center field.

It took until his fourth full season for Wagner to have a truly breakthrough year. In 1999 Wagner was recognized as an all-star reliever as well as finishing 4th and 16th in the Cy Young and MVP voting processes. His stats:

• 1.57 ERA
• 1.65 FIP
• 0.777 WHIP
• 39 saves/42 opportunities (92.9%)
• 55 games finished
• 74 2/3 innings pitched
• 5 home runs allowed (0.6 HR/9)
• 4.2 H/9
• 124 strikeouts to 23 walks (5.39 K/BB)

As you can tell, Wagner certainly impressed in that 1999 season. His only appearance in the playoffs was a perfect inning against the Atlanta Braves.

Wagner retired with the aforementioned team following the 2010 season. His career is one of the greatest by an MLB closing pitcher. A seven-time all-star, Billy posted a remarkable 2.31 ERA with 422 saves throughout his career. I hope to see him voted into Cooperstown.

Billy Wagner

Next: 2005: Brad Lidge

Yeah. Despite that devastating home run that Brad Lidge yielded to Albert Pujols, he still had one of the greatest years in Astros’ history.

Brad Lidge (Credit: Lisa Blumenfield)

2005 was one of two all-star seasons for Lidge. The other came in 2008 as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen. In 2005 Lidge had these statistics:

• 2.29 ERA
• 2.13 FIP
• 1.146 WHIP
• 42 saves/46 opportunities (91.3%)
• 65 games finished
• 70 2/3 innings pitched
• 5 home runs allowed (0.6 HR/9)
• 103 strikeouts to 23 walks (4.48 K/BB)

That performance came on the heels of a season in which Lidge established himself as a big league closer with 29 saves. His ERA in 2004 was an impressive 1.90 in 94 2/3 innings. The season before that Brad had been voted 5th in the rookie-of-the-year process.

Brad has now officially retired from baseball with 603 1/3 innings pitched. He compiled a 26-32 record with a 3.54 ERA and 225 saves throughout his 11 seasons at the big league level.

Next: 2008: Jose Valverde

Anyone remember the 2007-2008 offseason? This is the only appearance in this list for our 2014 closing pitcher. In that offseason we traded Chad Qualls, Chris Burke, and J.C. Gutierrez for Jose Valverde. Fresh off an all-star year with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Valverde was entering his sixth season in the major leagues.

He was far from the prototypical closer during the 2008 season. Despite a lofty home run rate and a high ERA, he managed to do his job at a high rate.

• 3.38 ERA
• 3.67 FIP
• 1.181 WHIP
• 44 saves/51 opportunities (86.3%)
• 71 games finished
• 72 innings pitched
• 10 home runs allowed (1.3 HR/9)
• 83 strikeouts to 23 walks (3.61 K/BB)

Valverde eventually became an all-star two more times with the Detroit Tigers. He saved all 49 of his opportunities with the Tigers in 2011 but was dreadful in the postseason. In all he sported a 9.82 ERA throughout parts of 7 series in the playoffs.

Valverde remains to be a free agent, so perhaps his career is not over yet. But with stratospheric ERA’s the last two seasons, I think his best years are well behind him.

jose Valverde (Credit: Ronald Martinez)

Next: Vote for the Astros' All Time Best Season: Closers