Astros sign their guy: Hector Neris

By Gordon Liang

11/28/2021

Many people download Tinder to find their match. James Click doesn’t need Tinder, he knows who his matches are and RHP Hector Neris just made too much sense. A few days after letting Kendall Graveman sign with the White Sox, Click found Graveman’s replacement in the long-time Phillies closer. Many would believe that Neris is coming off an unlucky year after posting a 3.63 ERA and racking up seven blown saves but in reality, he’s coming off an unlucky year.

For a variety of reasons, Philadelphia is an unfortunate destination for Major League Baseball pitchers. From not being on a contending team to pitching in the third-least pitcher-friendly ballpark, it’s safe to assume that pitchers aren’t rushing to perform at Citizens Bank Park as a Phillie. And as if the park wasn’t already making the pitcher’s life harder, they also have to deal with one of the most incompetent defenses in the league. The Phillies defense has metaphorical holes in their mitts and with a league-worst negative-54 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS), some may even resort to wondering if the position players were feuding with their pitching staff in 2021. On top of that, manager Joe Girardi shifts his squad the least amongst all teams. In a new defensive era of baseball, the Phillies have yet to keep up with the curve, making a pitcher’s life that much harder.

Thankfully for Neris, he has a new home now. Neris was in the top ten-percent of every expected statistic that StatCast provides. In terms of inducing bad contact, that’s all Neris did but his defense failed him. Now he plays for the Houston Astros who are a top defensive team with the analytics to turn his luck (and results) around. The Astros finished second in Outs Above Average (OAA) in 2021 while shifting the third-most amongst all teams in the process. It seems inevitable that Neris’s luck will change. The numbers all point to a monstrous season for Neris and Click made it happen.