Houston Astros reliever Bryan King looked like one of the safer bets in the bullpen for most of the season. Then the bottom fell out.
Through 94 team games, King had been a steady setup option, piling up a 2.03 ERA in his first 38 appearances with 12 holds and six saves against three blown saves. But the warning signs were there if you looked closely enough. His FIP sat at 3.24, suggesting some good fortune may have been propping up the results, and his strikeout rate had dipped to 18.7% before the recent skid, well below the 26.0% he posted in his first two seasons.
King has been a useful bullpen arm since debuting in the majors in 2024. He turned in a 2.39 ERA in 28 games that year, then followed with a 2.78 ERA across 68 games last season. In 2025, he added 27 holds, two saves and only three blown saves.
But the trouble started on July 10 against the Texas Rangers. King entered an 3-3 game in the eighth inning and watched it spiral, giving up four earned runs and two home runs to turn it into a blowout. Since then, he has allowed at least one run in every appearance, including homers in four straight games before a homerless two-run outing last time out.
The Astros even optioned him to Triple-A after the fourth game in that run, only to bring him back quickly when Spencer Arighetti landed on the 15-day IL. Over the five-game stretch, King has taken two losses, including a blown-save loss in which he inherited a 2-1 lead and exited with Houston down 3-2. His numbers in that span are brutal: a 15.88 ERA and a 14.41 FIP.
That leaves Houston with a simple but uncomfortable question: when does Bryan King even get used? On Sunday, the Astros brought him in while already trailing by three runs in the late innings. For now, his role appears limited to low-leverage innings, and maybe the occasional extra-inning emergency.
He has gone from dependable seventh-inning weapon to a pitcher the Astros can’t trust in meaningful spots. The home run damage suggests this isn’t just a bad-luck blip. Houston may give him a few more chances to settle in, much like it did with Bryan Abreu, but the early-season version of King may not be coming back this year.
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For Astros fans, the bigger emotion is less about the transaction itself than the sight of a former October contributor trying to rebuild his value elsewhere. Urquidy struggled in the majors this season, but he has looked better in Triple-A, which is why Chicago sees a path to using him as either a back-end starter or a bulk reliever. It is the kind of move that can feel minor in the standings and still hit a little harder for a fan base that remembers what he once meant in Houston. [Read more 🡒]