Major Leaguer resume Vol.69 / WBC Player’s resume Vol.55: Ryan Pressly (Houston Astros) : Major Candidate for Team USA: “Astroball in the 9th!”

Story:
Today's player's resume concerns the Houston Astros closer, Ryan Pressly. He was born in Dallas, Texas, and will represent Team USA in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

The KAISPO's baseball analyst said,
"Pressly is a closer of the Astros, the 2022 World Champion. The righty is a relief specialist. Although he has experience as a starter in the minor league, he has pitched all his major games as a reliever or closer. His high-spinning curveball and slider can be steep at the start of batters' swing, so they will need more time to get the timing well in only one inning. The 40 straight scoreless appearances he made in 2018-2019 is a major league record. As long as Houston has Pressly, a ninth-inning comeback will be a fleeting dream for its opponents."

Ryan Pressly was drafted by the Boston Red Sox with the 354th overall pick in the 11th round of the 2007 MLB and was picked by the Minnesota Twins with the 4th pick of the 2012 Rule V Draft.

The right-hander made his big league debut with the Twins on April 4th, 2013, facing the Detroit Tigers. He tossed the ninth inning, allowing a hit, no runs, and striking out one. On May 8th, he picked up his first career win, pitching four scoreless innings as a second pitcher, giving up two hits, no runs, and striking out three batters in the Twins' 15-8 victory over the Boston Red Sox. He finished his first year with 3-3, a 3.87 ERA in 49 relief appearances. He had 3-2 with a 2.93 ERA and 22 strikeouts across 27 reliefs covering 27.2 frames in 2015.

The 34-year-old reliever was traded by the Twins to the Houston Astros on July 27th, 2018.

Pressly marked a 40-game scoreless streak from August 15th, 2018, to May 24th, 2019, to set a new all-time Major League record, passing Craig Kimbrel's line of 38 scoreless games between June 14th and September 8th, 2011. He was named his first All-Star in 2019. In 2022, Pressly earned his career-high 33 saves over 50 contests in the regular season and picked up six saves across ten games in the postseason to help the Astros win their second World Series title. In Game 4 of the Series over the Philadelphia Phillies, Cristian Javier, Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero, and Ryan Pressly threw the first combined no-hitter(the second no-hitter overall) in World Series history.

The two-time All-Star has been 29-28 with a 3.20 ERA through 499 relief appearances covering 528 innings pitched, striking out 561 in his major league career at the end of the 2022 season.
(MLB No.346 KAISPO No.1526)