How dominant can the Astros' bullpen be? We asked the experts

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The signing of closer Josh Hader in January to join Ryan Pressly and Bryan Abreu at the back end of the Astros’ bullpen immediately evoked comparisons to the dominating back end of the 2003 Astros bullpen -- Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner.

Lidge, Dotel and Wagner, who combined for 756 career saves, were only together for one season in Houston in 2003, but it was a memorable one in terms of sheer dominance and their ability to shorten games. So it only made sense to turn to Lidge, Dotel and Wagner -- just like former Astros manager Jimy Williams had the luxury of doing in 2003 -- to find out what they think of Houston’s newest bullpen trio of Abreu, Pressly and Hader.

“First of all, as soon as they picked up Hader, I felt very confident in saying they have the best bullpen in baseball, I think hands-down,” Lidge said. “There’s no question about that.”

Hader, who signed a five-year contract with the Astros, has saved 165 career games with the Brewers and Padres, including a career-high 37 saves in 2019 for Milwaukee and 33 in 38 chances last year for the Padres. He posted a 1.28 ERA in 56 1/3 innings and held opposing hitters to a .163 average and just a .224 slugging percentage in 2023. Hader has averaged 15 strikeouts per nine innings for his career.

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Pressly had been the Astros’ closer since the 2020 season and is one of only four relievers to compile at least 100 saves since, including 31 in 37 chances last year. An All-Star with Houston in 2019 and 2021, he’s saved 90 games over the last three seasons and is a perfect 14-for-14 in save chances in the postseason, including the clinching Game 6 of the 2022 World Series.

Abreu posted a 1.75 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in 72 innings last year with 100 strikeouts and a .177 opponents’ batting average. Since 2022, he ranks second in strikeouts (188) and ERA (1.84) among American League relief pitchers.

“Those guys have great talent and they can do what we did, but I don’t think it’s going to be like us,” Dotel said. “I don’t want to be like, ‘I’m the guy or whatever,’ but it’s not going to be exactly like that. There’s no way.”

Wagner was already an established closer in 2003, which turned out to be his final season in Houston. Dotel came to Houston prior to the 2000 season in a deal that sent Mike Hampton and Derek Bell to the Mets. Lidge was a first-round pick of the Astros in 1998 who made his debut in 2002 before his breakout 2003 season. All three could hit 100 mph with the fastball.

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The Astros were 21-4 when Lidge, Dotel and Wagner were the final three pitchers in a game, with a combined 2.51 ERA in those outings. All three were strikeout pitchers and attacked hitters in different ways: Lidge with a hard slider and fastball, Dotel from a three-quarter arm slot and Wagner with an overpowering fastball/slider combo from the left side.

“What I remember is any starting pitcher could go six innings or more and [if] we were ahead, the game was over,” Dotel said. “That combination, I haven’t seen in a long time.”

Wagner, who fell five votes shy of reaching the Hall of Fame in January, said the back end of the ’03 Astros bullpen was as dominant as the Reds’ Nasty Boys of the 1990 season: Norm Charlton, Rob Dibble and Randy Myers.

“You were looking at nine punchouts in three innings,” Wagner said. “That could happen really quick. You could shut down a game in a heartbeat if you had the lead going into the seventh inning. That’s a great card to hold when you’re sitting there with that opportunity.”

Lidge said he studied how Dotel and Wagner went about their business and tried to keep up with them. As a starter in the Minor Leagues, he had to quickly learn the routines of a relief pitcher.

“I didn't really have a physical routine whatsoever when I got to the bullpen, so I had to learn from Wagner the amount of stretching that it takes, how to play catch every day to make sure your arm stays in shape,” Lidge said. “So physically, I had a lot to learn how to be able to have success in that role, and mentally you couldn't have gotten two more opposites between Dotel and Wagner and how they prepared to pitch.”

Dotel stayed loose and relaxed until the phone rang in the bullpen and heard his name called; Wagner was champing at the bit from the time the game started.

“I kind of looked at it and said, ‘Maybe if I can be in between those guys in terms of my mental preparation, that’s probably a good place to be,’” Lidge said. “Billy Wagner, for me, was definitely my mentor looking back.”

Perhaps the biggest difference between the bullpen trios is the workload, which is a product of how differently relievers are used. In 2003, Wagner (86 innings), Dotel (87 innings) and Lidge (85 innings) carried a much larger workload than Pressly (65 1/3 innings), Abreu (72 innings) and Hader (56 1/3 innings) did last year.

The ability to shut down the opposition hasn’t changed.

“They have three very different looks at the end of the game and they’re all three dominant relievers and frankly all three of them could be elite closers, as we’ve seen with two of them,” Lidge said.