It was anticipated that veteran left-handed reliever Josh Hader, who signed a five-year, $95 million contract with the Houston Astros earlier this offseason, would serve as the team’s closer beginning in 2024. After all, Hader is a superb reliever who, since 2019, has played closer for two different clubs. In fact, Hader will start the season as the Astros’ primary beneficiary of save opportunities, as first-year Astros manager Joe Espada stated on Wednesday.

However, when Espada informed Ryan Pressly of the role change, Pressly appeared somewhat taken aback by the news. “Yeah, it was a surprise, but he makes our team better,” Pressly stated on Thursday, the Associated Press reports. Without a doubt, he is among the top relievers in the game. I’m glad to have him here and to have the bullpen to myself. It promises to be enjoyable. He appears to be a fantastic colleague.”

But surprise isn’t the same as annoyance or resistance, and Pressly seems willing to play whatever part is assigned to him: “We got a great bullpen, probably one of the best bullpens in the league,” he remarked. “Whether it’s the fourth or ninth inning, I get paid to get three outs. I’ll enter whenever the phone rings and they instruct me to do so.”

Pressly, 35, has been the main closer for Houston since the 2020 COVID-19 short season. In 198 ⅔ innings thrown, he recorded a 2.99 ERA, 249 strikeouts, and 102 of 118 regular-season save opportunities were converted. Pressly is 14 for 14 in postseason save opportunities. He’s currently in position to take over as Hader’s main right-handed setup guy.

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