Astros: Top 5 closer candidates to take over for Roberto Osuna

4. Ryan Pressly

Ryan Pressly is doing an inverse Andre Scrubbs. Rather than overperforming this year, he is drastically underperforming. With an ERA over 9.00, he is far and away in the worst rut he’s been in in quite some time.

More from Climbing Tal's Hill

• Just how much better is the Houston Astros playoff rotation than the rest?
• Houston Astros: A Lineup Change to Spark Offense
• Astros prospect Hunter Brown throws 6 shutout innings in debut
• Always faithful Astros World Series champion Josh Reddick defends the title
• Michael Conforto declines Astros’ 2-year, $30 million offer

But unlike Scrubb, we have a track record that tells us this is all temporary… hopefully.

Let’s get the problems out of the way first—Pressly has never been an effective closer. Plain and simple. He’s a great seventh or eighth-inning guy, but he’s accumulated 19 blown saves going back to 2016 with the Twins. Compare that to just seven saves.

Needless to say, that’s not a good return.

Yet in the last two years alone he’s accumulated 52 holds. Which is pretty damn impressive in its own right.

Still, despite the proven struggles as a closer, Pressly has some wicked stuff. So it may just come down to getting him a closer’s mentality, which is not an easy thing to do. In fact, some would say it’s impossible. But what’s the harm in trying?

Moving on to No. 3.