HOUSTON – There is no player participating in the 2023 American League Championship Series who embodies the Lone Star State more than Astros closer Ryan Pressly, who was born in Dallas, has a tattoo of the state on his back and is rarely without a Cowboys hat. Clothing is seen boots from the field.
Heck, Pressly’s wife, Kat, is a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader who grew up in Houston. You can’t get more Texas than that.
However, when it comes to Space City versus the Metroplex, Pressly’s loyalty is unquestionable – he’s hoping his Astros can finish the Rangers’ season in a Texas-sized ALCS in the coming days. The Astros will have home-field advantage in the best-of-seven series, starting with Game 1 on Sunday night at Minute Maid Park.
“It will be loud but I think the crowd will be 50-50 when we get up there [in Arlington]Pressly said. “It’ll be fun. I’m excited to get back there and play baseball.”
If the Astros want to get past the Rangers and advance to the World Series for the third straight year – and fifth in seven years – Pressly will need to make some big outings, but he proved he’s up to the challenge in October.
Pressly’s 13 postseason saves are the fifth-most in Major League history, trailing only Mariano Rivera (42), Kenley Jansen (20), Brad Lidge (18) and Dennis Eckersley (15). No one has saved more games in the postseason without a save than Pressly, who went 6-for-6 in the race for the World Series title last year.
“I think it’s just another game,” Pressly said. “When you’re out there, you try to keep things as simple as possible. You don’t want to try to do too much or think too much. It’s exactly the same game as I said earlier this year. There are just a lot more people watching.”
Pressly, 34, was drafted by the Red Sox in 2007 out of Marcus High School in Flower Mound, Texas, and would have attended Texas Tech had he not signed with Boston. He began his professional career as a regular player before moving to the substitute team. He played in the Twins’ bullpen for five seasons before the Astros signed him in 2018 to bolster their bullpen.
In his first game against Houston on July 28, 2018, the Rangers’ Rougned Odor hit a home run.
“I thought, ‘I could have done that in Minnesota,'” Pressly said.
The Astros were wooed by Pressly’s spin rate on his curveball and his fastball. He changed the way he used his pitches and moved into the closer role in 2020. He has become one of the most dominant and successful relief pitchers in baseball.
Pressly recorded his 100th save with the Astros on July 25 against the Rangers, becoming the fourth pitcher in club history to reach that mark. Only Billy Wagner (225), Dave Smith (199) and Lidge (123) have more saves in an Astros uniform.
“My dad always told me, ‘Just keep your head down, and when you look up at the end of your career, you’ll see what you’ve done,'” Pressly said. “I never thought I would make 100 saves. I mean, you have to be good for a long time. And you’re on a team like this and they just win. And then you have the staff around you and that just makes you that much better. I never thought I would make it, but I’m glad I did.”
Since joining Houston, Pressly has been named to two All-Star teams and recorded the longest scoreless streak in major league history at 40 games from August 15, 2018 to May 24, 2019. He was scoreless in 36 of his 43 postseason appearances with the Astros, including the final three outs in the deciding game against the Phillies in last year’s World Series.
“There is no better feeling in the world to see each and every one of your teammates [rushing] To you to celebrate,” Pressly said. “I will never forget that for the rest of my life, especially when I see the ball land [Kyle] Also Tucker’s glove. It’s the greatest feeling in the world.”
Earlier this year, Pressly reached 10 years of service and was gifted – what else? – a pair of custom-made boots. The boots featured the Astros logo on the front of one boot and a Twins logo on the front of the other. The 2019 and 2021 All-Star Game logos were featured on the back of the cleats.
“I probably wear boots 99 percent of the time,” he said. “It is very special to receive something like this. Of course I don’t think I’ll ever wear them. It’ll be something I have in my man cave and hopefully a lot of people will ask about it when they come to my house.”