Houston Astros versus New York Yankees ALCS preview

HOUSTON, TEXAS – OCTOBER 04: Roberto Osuna #54 of the Houston Astros delivers a pitch against the Tampa Bay Rays during the ninth inning in game one of the American League Division Series at Minute Maid Park on October 04, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)

Roberto Osuna, Will Harris, and Ryan Pressly have bee the stalwarts of the bullpen this season. Hector Rondon and Josh James have played major roles, as well as Joe Smith once he came off of the IL. The rest of the relievers that have been used were a combination of call-ups and veteran pitchers that seemed to enter and exit through a revolving door due to various injuries sustained by several pitchers.

Osuna has been mostly the go-to closer for the Astros and led the League with 38 saves, which just so happens to be one save above Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman. He ended the regular season with 2.63 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP.

Pressly and Harris were solid setup men carrying ERAs of 2.32 and 1.50, respectively. James has gotten in a lot of work this season and owns an ERA of 4.77 as a reliever, but seems to have settled in nicely toward the end of the year earning him a spot on the postseason roster.

As mentioned above, Chapman has been the Yankees closer having a solid year with those 37 saves and an ERA of 2.21. Zack Britton and Adam Ottavino have each had really nice seasons with ERAs just below 2.00 and are reliable setup men for Chapman.

In the quote by Alex Rodriguez I referred to earlier, he stated that the Yankees had the better bullpen between the two teams. I’m not sure if I can agree with that. The Astros relievers led the league in several categories including WHIP, K-BB%, BAPIP and had the second-lowest ERA. So I’m going to have to give the Astros the nod over the Yankees in bullpen quality.

Yes, I’m an Astros fan writing about the Astros, but as hard as I try to examine these two teams up against each other, I really do think the Astros are the better all-around team. As I stated before, it should be a wild ride. So, sit back and enjoy another postseason classic between these two MLB juggernauts.

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