Héctor Neris joined Houston late in the season.
This offseason, we’re taking a deeper look at the top 40 most impactful Astros of the 2024 campaign.
Each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from now until we’re out of players, we’ll be going over one player at a time.
I used the product of BF and ERA+ for pitchers and the product of PA and OPS+ for hitters. The players are listed in ascending order of positive impact.
55. Grae Kessinger
54. Cooper Hummel
53. Pedro Leon
52. Aledmys Diaz
51. Jacob Ayama
50. Wander Suero
49. Miguel Diaz
48. Dylan Coleman
47. Forrest Whitley
46. Blair Henley
45. Joel Kuhnel
44. Jose Abréu
43. Alex Speas
42. Luis Contreras
41. Nick Hernandez
40. Parker Mushinski
39. Jake Bloss
38. Shay Whitcomb
37. Cesar Salazar
36. Zach Dezenzo
The number 35 most impactful member of the Houston Astros in 2024 was Héctor Neris.
Neris is a six-foot-two, 227 lb. right-handed pitcher from Villa Altagracia, DR. Born on June 14, 1989, he initially signed with the Philadelphia Phillies as an undrafted free agent in 2010. He played eight seasons with the Phillies at the major league level before getting granted free agency for the 2022 season. He signed with the Astros, and was an integral part of Houston’s bullpen, going 12-7 with a 2.69 ERA, 156 strikeouts in 133 2⁄3 innings, a 1.032 WHIP, a 3.10 FIP, a 150 ERA+, and an opposing slashline of .190/.276/.299. Following the 2023 season, Neris signed on with the Chicago Cubs.
Neris was 8-4 with a 3.89 ERA in 46 relief appearances for the Cubs through the first three-quarters of the season. They released him on August 20, and surprising exactly nobody, resigned with the Astros just four days later.
Neris pitched 15 1⁄3 innings for Houston over 16 relief appearances, striking out 18 while walking only two. He was 2-1 with a 4.70 ERA and a 4.80 FIP, but just a 1.043 WHIP. He faced a total of 64 batters and landed on an ERA+ of 86 for a product of 5,504 — just a hair above number 36 Astro Zach Dezenzo.
On September 17, Neris had his best outing of the season (.446 WPA). He entered in relief in the bottom of the 10th with a 4-3 lead, then immediately threw a wild pitch to let Manfred-Man Tyler Wade scamper to third. He then walked Elias Díaz to put runners on the corners before getting Luis Arráez to ground into a 6-4 force out while keeping Wade on third. He then struck out Fernando Tatis Jr. and hit Jurickson Profar with a pitch to load the bases, but followed with a Manny Machado groundout to end the game.
Neris relied on a four-pitch mix, but mostly his two fastballs. He used a 93 MPH four-seamer (46 percent), an 83 MPH split-finger (40 percent), a 93 MPH sinker (10 percent) and an occasional slider (three percent). His four-seamer was his best offering, with a run value of positive-nine (no other pitch had a positive run value). His chase rate of 31 percent ranks him in the top quarter of the majors.
Neris threw a total of 221 pitches for the Astros after joining late in August, allowing opponents a .237/.270/.475 slashline while pitching in above-average leverage (1.55 aLi) situations.
Neris remains on Houston’s 40-man roster, but he’s not signed past the 2024 season. If Houston is inclined, they could probably resign him on a team-friendly deal for 2025 and later. I don’t work for the Astros, but if I did, I would consider it. Neris’ floor remains high, and his fire on the mound is always a welcome sight. Sportrac values Neris’ 2025 age-36 season at $5.2 million.