Houston Astros Have Tough Decision To Make With Underrated Relief Pitcher

The Houston Astros have decisions to make when it comes to who will start the season in their bullpen, and one player has made his case to do so this spring.

Houston Astros pitcher Logan VanWey throws a pitch against the Washington Nationals at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches. | Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros have many tough roster decisions to make before Opening Day, including what to do with prospect Cam Smith, and whether or not he should make that first roster. Another few of their decisions will be in regards to the bullpen, and who they want among that group to start out the 2025 season.

As of right now, Fangraphs projects the bullpen to include Josh Hader, Bryan Abreu, Tayler Scott, Bryan King, Kaleb Ort, Forrest Whitley, Steven Okert, and Nick Hernandez. This is subject to change however, and likely will as the first game of the season grows nearer for the Astros.

One of the most intriguing names this spring has been reliever Logan VanWey, a right-handed 26-year old who signed with the team back in 2022 as an undrafted free agent. During his nine appearances in spring training he has pitched 11 innings, accruing a 0.82 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, with 10 strikeouts to five walks, and a save.

While he has not officially made his MLB debut yet, he has had some very strong appearances in Triple-A Sugar Land, where in 2024 he pitched in a whopping 60 games, picking up 72.2 innings of work, with a 3.22 ERA, 1.362 WHIP, 98 strikeouts to 40 walks, four saves, and only allowed seven home runs. His success has been hit or miss at a few times when he first got up to some of the higher levels of the farm system, but recently he has really become a quality player for Houston.

Now, the Astros have a decision to make with him, and that is whether or not they want him on that Opening Day roster, or if they would rather leave him in Triple-A to start the season and work from there. With Ryan Pressly and Kendall Graveman on their way out this offseason, the bullpen is set to change a bit and rotate some pieces around.

Having a reliever with a five-pitch repertoire, and a fastball that can top out at 96 miles per hour, is a great option among the bullpen arms. He currently is able to throw a fastball, sweeper, sinker, cutter, and changeup, which is quite the mix of pitches, and allows him to be effective as he can switch between a litany of options for different batters.

It will be intriguing to see if Houston is willing to give him an opportunity early this season, as he definitely has proven his worth both in 2024 and during 2025 spring training.