This Minor League Signing has been a revlation so far

During the 2024 offseason, the Houston Astros signed lefty reliever Steven Okert to a minor league contract. He had a strong performance in spring training and was rewarded with an opening day bullpen spot. So far, Okert has been fantastic this season and is currently having a career year.

Photo Courtesy of The Crawfish Boxes

As of August 22nd, Okert has a 2.97 ERA (Earned Run Average) in 52 games pitched this season. His underlying numbers are even better as he owns a 2.68 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) and a strong 30.3% strikeout rate (95th Percentile) along with a 5.5% walk rate (89th Percentile). He also has a 31.9% hard-hit rate (95th Percentile). Okert has been able to perform very well with a two-pitch mix of sliders and 4-seam fastballs. His slider has held hitters to a .127 batting average, and it has 4.4 more inches of horizontal break than the average left-handed slider. Uniquely, it has 7.1 inches of rise, which isn't the typical movement for a normal slider.

Okert has established himself as a key member of the Astros bullpen, and with the loss of closer Josh Hader, his strong contributions are more than needed.

• https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/steven-okert-595345?stats=statcast-r-pitching-mlb

• https://www.fangraphs.com/players/steven-okert/13580/stats?position=P

• https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/okertst01.shtml