With Abreu struggling, Astros will go closer by committee

Desperate for a win and clinging to a 7-6 lead over the Rockies on Tuesday night, Joe Espada sent Bryan King back to the mound to try to secure the game’s final three outs. Bryan Abreu, the team’s most accomplished healthy reliever, sat on a bench in the bullpen while Enyel De Los Santos, a journeyman 30-year old who signed with the Astros last August, got loose.

After retiring the first two batters he faced, King allowed hits to the next two, prompting Espada to summon De Los Santos to face the right-handed-hitting Jordan Beck. De Los Santos struck him out to end the game, securing the Astros’ first win after an eight-game losing streak.

It was a good night for a team that needed a win and a bullpen that has been maligned for the first 18 games of the season, but it was notable that Abreu, who was scored on in his first six appearances of the season, played no role in it.

“My focus is trying to match up the right pockets. Trying to put these guys in a position when they can deploy their pitches, go to the areas where they can get people out and trying to get them rolling that way,” Espada said.

That means the way Espada managed his bullpen in the final innings of Tuesday’s game will be the standard operating procedure moving forward.

“Once the dust settles some of these guys will start falling into those roles, but right now we’re going to try to get going that way and try to get these guys on a positive note,” Espada said.

The Astros bullpen is shorthanded with Josh Hader, who threw a live batting practice session on Tuesday, and Bennett Sousa, who recently started a rehab assignment, on the IL, but its ERA sits at 6.35, second worst in league, after surrendering just two runs over 5 1/3 against the Rockies on Tuesday.

Getting Hader and Sousa back will be a nice shot in the arm for the Astros bullpen, but it is hard to see it function at a high level without Abreu pitching at a high level. He had his first scoreless outing of the season on Sunday in Seattle, but he still allowed two baserunners and needed 27 pitches to record three outs.

Abreu will get his opportunities out of the Astros bullpen, but Espada didn’t sound like someone ready to use him in high leverage spots right now.

“I’m going to deploy him in moments where I think it’s what’s best for him and our team,” Espada said. “Once he gets going, he’s a force.”