The Houston Astros have a real decision to make with Steven Okert, and his 2026 season gave them plenty to think about.
Okert didn’t arrive in Houston carrying much buzz. Between 2023 and 2025 - including his first year with the Astros in 2025 - he had a mixed track record across three teams, and his overall résumé before this run sat at just 1.8 bWAR. But in 2026, the left-hander turned in the best season of his career and forced his way into the conversation as a bullpen piece worth keeping around.
He finished the year at 35 with a career-best 2.3 bWAR, cut his ERA from 3.01 to 2.13, and made 68 appearances for the second straight season. That kind of workload mattered for Houston, especially in a bullpen that had to hold together a lot of moving parts. Behind Josh Hader’s 1.9 fWAR, Okert’s 1.2 fWAR ranked second among Astros relievers, and he was often the arm cleaning up messes and buying Hader clean save chances.
The numbers show just how steady he was. Okert didn’t allow a run in 55 of his 68 outings, and in 36 of those appearances he didn’t even allow a hit. For a pitcher who was once viewed mainly as a specialist, that kind of consistency stood out.
That mattered even more because the Astros’ bullpen spent much of the season under stress. Houston leaned on relief so heavily that it used 19 different starters just to get through the year, and right-hander AJ Blubaugh, who led the bullpen with 96 innings, actually threw more innings than 17 of the starters the Astros used. The relief group held up well for much of the stretch after the All-Star break, but the final month exposed some cracks.
Okert, though, stayed on track. His second half was sharper than his first, and the workload didn’t wear him down.
His walk rate dropped from 2.3 to 0.8 BB/9, while his strikeout rate stayed near 9.0, lifting his K/BB from 3.9 to 10.5. His FIP improved too, going from 4.25 in the first half to 3.40 in the second.
What really separated him was how he handled both sides of the plate. Lefties hit just .186 against him with a .218 BABIP, and righties were held to a .194 average with a .235 BABIP. The biggest jump came in his strikeout work against right-handers, where he posted a 30.1 K%, compared with 21.6 K% against hitters from his own side.
That’s why Okert should be in Houston’s plans this winter. There are other left-handed relievers who could hit the market, including Adrian Morejon of the San Diego Padres and Sean Newcomb of the Chicago White Sox, who lead all left-handed relievers in fWAR at 2.8 and 1.7, respectively. Gregory Soto of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Alex Vesia of the Los Angeles Dodgers are also names to watch.
Still, given Houston’s bullpen issues, Okert has earned a serious look. The Astros can explore a reasonable deal, but they’ll also have to keep his age in mind - he’ll enter his age-35 season in 2027.
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