5 Astros relievers who will have a much bigger role in 2024

With Hector Neris, Phil Maton and Ryne Stanek all leaving in free agency, these five Astros relievers will be tasked with a much bigger responsibility in 2024.
Houston Astros v Seattle Mariners
Houston Astros v Seattle Mariners / Steph Chambers/GettyImages
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#3 Dylan Coleman

Dylan Coleman wasn't even an Astro in 2023, so any production he provides is an increased role.

Houston capitalized on the Royals roster crunch to land the low-risk, high reward righty. Coleman struggled mightily in 2023 in Kansas City after his velocity dropped and he lost control. But he's only one year removed from an absolutely dominant 2022 in which he looked like the Royals closer of the future.

Coleman has been working with Tread this offseason on his sweeper, and if he can land that next year, watch out. 18.1 bad innings are much too few to write off somebody with that high octane of stuff. Coleman recorded a 2.66 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 3.67 FIP and 156 ERA+ across 74.1 innings of work from 2021-22.

If he can get his walk rate back to 2022 levels, Coleman could replace Ryne Stanek seamlessly. He's probably not yet somebody you'd trust in a high leverage playoff spot if others are available, but throughout the course of the regular season, his stuff plays and he can get big outs while navigating 162 games.

Baseball Reference projects a 4.39 ERA and 1.37 WHIP for Coleman in 2024. Stanek just posted a 4.09 ERA with a 1.24 WHIP. If the Astros can unlock something new in Coleman as they have with arms like Will Harris, Collin McHugh, Ryan Pressly and Phil Maton, they could have something special in Coleman.