Inside the Astros

Astros Set To Reunite With Their Past World Series Champion Reliever

The Houston Astros are bringing back a veteran pitcher to their bullpen.
Maddy Dickens|
Aug 31, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros relief pitcher Hector Neris (50) before the game against the Kansas City Royals at Minute Maid Park
Aug 31, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros relief pitcher Hector Neris (50) before the game against the Kansas City Royals at Minute Maid Park | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

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MLB Trade Rumors reported the Houston Astros are set to sign right-handed pitcher Héctor Neris.

This will be the third team for the veteran this year. 

The last World Series championship for the Astros came in 2022 with Neris on the roster against his former team, the Philadelphia Phillies.

2022 was his first career postseason experience, and he went 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA and nine strikeouts in six innings. 

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The Astros used him in 70 games that year and he went 6-4 with a 3.72 ERA. He held batters to a .205 batting average which was one of the best showings of his career. But he followed that up with an even better showing in 2023 when he posted a 1.71 ERA in 71 outings before moving on after the season.

Neris has been in the Majors since his debut in August of 2014.

He spent most of his career with the Phillies, as he was with that franchise until the end of the 2021 season.

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After his stint in Philadelphia, he joined Houston for two years, becoming an elite reliever for them and a key part of their championship win in 2022.

Neris began 2024 with the Chicago Cubs after signing with them in free agency, but after he was released on Aug. 20, he re-signed with the Astros.

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This year, he began with the Atlanta Braves, but he only appeared in two games before being desginated for assignment and electing free agency and signing with the Los Angeles Angels.

There, he was used in 21 games and went 3-0 with a 5.14 ERA before being DFA'd on June 28 and outright released on July 3 when he cleared waivers.

Now, Neris is back in Houston for the third time, joining a bullpen that is one of the best in the Majors as he looks to stick with an organization for the second half of the season.

For more Astros news, head over to Astros On SI.

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Maddy Dickens
MADDY DICKENS

Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.

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