Astros option Bryan King to Triple-A Sugar Land

He’ll be part of the low-leverage mix for the Astros going forward as they try to figure out the middle-to-late innings without LHP Steven Okert.

King allowed five earned runs yesterday as part of Los Angeles’ 18-3 blowout win. With King throwing 37 pitches, he was simply exchanged for a fresh arm. The unsightly game raised his season ERA to 4.75.

King rejoins Houston’s bullpen after spending a couple days back in the minors with starter Spencer Arrighetti hitting the injured list with a foot isuse. The 29-year-old lefty holds a solid 3.40 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 35/16 K/BB ratio across 45 innings of work this season. He’ll operate in a low-leverage role for now.

Brought in after Bryan Abreu walked two of the three batters he faced in the eighth, King gave up the tying run on an RBI groundout before finishing the inning. He then worked a scoreless ninth to send the game to extras. It was definitely a positive outing for the lefty, but it went as his third blown save anyway. He remains the Astros’ favorite for saves with Josh Hader absent for a little bit longer.

Two saves in two days for King, who did need to throw 21 pitches while giving up one hit today. He and Enyel De Los Santos will probably both be off Sunday, opening the door for Bryan Abreu to potentially get a save chance.

King came in with two on and two out in the eighth and got what he thought was an inning-ending groundout, only for Jeremy Peña to make a throwing error. King, though, retired Nico Hoerner on another grounder afterwards and then pitched a perfect ninth. It’s his fifth save, while both Enyel De Los Santos and Bryan Abreu recorded their third holds. King definitely seems like the Astros reliever worth rostering right now, but Josh Hader is still trending to return at the end of the month.

It took both Enyel De Los Santos and Bryan King to get though the seventh tonight. AJ Blubaugh opened the eighth with two consecutive outs, but he then walked two in a row to get Abreu into the game. Abreu got Justin Foscue to fly out to end the rally and then worked a scoreless ninth while giving up a walk and a single. In all, three of the four outs Abreu recorded came on hard-hit balls. He might earn another save or two before Josh Hader returns, but he hardly seems worth picking up in mixed leagues at this point.

King completely lost his command here while also falling victim to some horrific batted ball luck. Three walks in one inning is completely inexcusable, no doubt about that. At the same time, J.P. Crawford hit a knubber up the first base line that set up the third and final walk which forced in a run. Funny enough, Josh Naylor hit another squeaker up the line that King made a tough play on and beat Naylor by about two inches. Had he been safe, the Astros may not have come back to win it in the 10th inning. These three walks were his first free passes in six outings – which was his last blown save – so this shouldn’t be a problem moving forward.

King gave up a double and a single in the eighth to bring the Dodgers within one run, but the Astros stuck with him in the ninth and he allowed only a one-hit single before closing out the game. He’s now matched Enyel De Los Santos with his third save. Both guys might have a little value until Josh Hader returns.

Enyel De Los Santos, the Astros’ most frequent closer of late, came into this one to begin the sixth and was charged with one run in 1 2/3 innings of an inning (the one run came after he departed with in the seventh with two outs and a runner on first). That left Kai-Wei Teng in a setup role and King to close. The lefty needed just six pitches to put together a one-two-three inning.