Bryan King was a 30th-round pick who missed an entire season to Tommy John surgery, didn’t make his major league debut until he was 27, and arrived in Houston via the Minor League phase of the Rule 5 Draft. None of that is how closer stories usually start.
Yet here he is.
With Josh Hader sidelined by biceps tendinitis, King has stepped into the highest-leverage situations in the Astros bullpen and handled them with a composure that his résumé might not have predicted. He has a 3.15 ERA through 17 appearances this season, with four saves and three holds, and has combined with Enyel De Los Santos for seven of Houston’s 10 saves while Hader works his way back.
This past weekend against Texas offered the clearest evidence of what King has become. Friday, with Spencer Arrighetti’s no-hit bid freshly broken up and runners on first and second in the eighth inning, King entered and needed just 17 pitches to record five outs and close out a 2-0 win. Saturday, he walked into the seventh with the bases loaded and the potential tying run at the plate, and got Andrew McCutchen to sky a routine flyout on one pitch to earn a hold.
The fastball is what makes it work. King throws it hard and lives at the top of the zone, generating weak contact and swings and misses from hitters who can’t catch up. He pairs it with a sweeper that gets chases out of the zone, and the combination has been effective enough that manager Joe Espada has trusted him consistently in moments that matter.
Last season, in 68 appearances, King posted a 2.78 ERA and ranked first among AL relievers in walks per nine innings. This season, in the biggest role of his career so far, he has been even better in high-leverage spots.
Hader will need at least five more rehab outings before the Astros can consider activating him. The runway belongs to King. So far, he has made the most of every inch of it.
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