Bryan King

July 23, 2025

Snags first big-league save

King allowed three hits and struck out one in a scoreless inning to earn the save in Tuesday's 3-1 win over the Diamondbacks.

Analysis

Josh Hader was evidently unavailable after throwing 53 pitches across his last two appearances dating back to Saturday. Manager Joe Espada elected to have Bryan Abreu work the eighth inning against the heart of the Arizona order, while King got the ninth. King loaded the bases with three singles before striking out Blaze Alexander and inducing a double-play grounder from Jose Herrera. King has emerged as a steady setup option for the Astros in his first full big-league season, pitching to a 2.55 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 45:8 K:BB through 42.1 innings while adding 21 holds and two blown saves. He's been scored upon in just seven of his 43 appearances, including a five-run fiasco versus the Rays on May 29 that skewed his ratios, though he has an 8.1-inning scoreless streak in July.