Without the ability to be aggressive in the free agency market this season, the Houston Astros have only been able to make one bullpen addition via trade after seeing three of their relievers hit the open market.
Because of that, Dana Brown has stated they're going to use internal candidates to fill many of their relief needs during the upcoming season.
Who those players might be is unknown as of now.
The Astros' top pitching prospects have been starters at the minor league level and might not be ready to immediately fill into a Major League bullpen role. Maybe they use last year's rookie starters, Hunter Brown and J.P. France, as relievers later in the season like they did during the playoffs.
One player who could become the impact reliever they're looking for is their late season waiver claim, Bennett Sousa.
In five games and 6 1/3 innings pitched with Houston, the lefty allowed zero runs, only one hit and struck out eight on his way to retiring 19 of 20 batters.
Because the Astros claimed Sousa off of waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers on Sept. 3, he was ineligible to be carried on their postseason roster because it came after the Sept. 1 deadline.
"If not for that rule, Brown acknowledged Sousa would have made all of the Astros’ playoff rosters. Now, he may be in line for a more permanent role," writes Chandler Rome of The Athletic.
Houston has become infamous in the baseball world for not having many left-handed pitchers on their roster. Some of their past playoff success has come without any lefties in the bullpen, something rare in the modern game of baseball.
Sousa could become an option for the Astros to counter left-handed batting moving forward as they desperately need their internal options to perform well this upcoming season.
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