WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The Astros’ decision to option left-handed pitcher Matt Gage to Triple-A Sugar Land on Tuesday came as somewhat of a surprise, considering the lack of healthy southpaws in camp and general manager Dana Brown’s gushing praise for Gage in the last couple of weeks.

In the end, the Astros’ desire to carry one or two relief pitchers who can throw multiple innings won out over carrying a left-hander, which has long been a desire of manager Dusty Baker. Houston hasn’t been able to find a consistent lefty option in its bullpen since Tony Sipp departed after the 2019 season, but that didn’t stop the Astros from having the best bullpen in the Majors last year.

“I’m always crying for a lefty, but the righties we have, we feel confident with them,” Baker said. “Gage is a guy who’s definitely on the radar. We urged him to go down and pitch and pitch well, and hopefully we can call him back pretty soon."

Gage, claimed off waivers by the Astros on Feb. 13, allowed one run on four hits and one walk with six strikeouts in six innings this spring. He made his debut June 6 of last year and posted a 1.38 ERA in 13 innings for Toronto, bouncing between Triple-A Buffalo and the big leagues.

“He threw the ball really well,” pitching coach Josh Miller said. “It was a good first impression in the organization. Innings are getting short. We’re getting our guys back from the [World Baseball Classic], so getting him in regular work these last five games in Major League Spring Training games wasn’t going to be easy to do, and I felt like it was best for him to go down and get ready for the season in a Minor League game.”

Ronel Blanco, who tossed three scoreless innings in Tuesday's 2-1 win over the Marlins and is being stretched out this year to be a starter, appears headed for a bullpen spot as a long reliever, with Seth Martinez and Brandon Bielak -- a Triple-A starter who’s thrown as many as four innings this spring -- seemingly battling for the final spot in Houston’s eight-man bullpen.

Here’s the projected bullpen:

Ryan Pressly
Ryne Stanek
Phil Maton
Rafael Montero
Bryan Abreu
Héctor Neris
Ronel Blanco
Seth Martinez/Brandon Bielak

Lefties Blake Taylor (who pitched in his first Grapefruit League game of the year Tuesday after a left elbow injury) and Parker Mushinski (back) have been slowed by injuries, while non-roster lefty reliever Austin Davis remains in camp. But the Astros appear headed to an all-right-handed bullpen to start the year.

Among the right-handed relievers on the roster, Abreu (.189 batting average against in 2022), Montero (.158) and Stanek (.175) handled lefty hitters well last year.

“I think you saw the last couple of years, even dating back to ’19, when we didn’t carry a lefty in the ‘pen, we feel confident in our right-handed pitchers to get left-handed hitters out,” Miller said. “Plenty of good options that we have returning from last year that we’re comfortable with putting up against any three-batter pocket in the league, and I expect those guys to get the ball in those spots.”

At the urging of Brown, the Astros decided to stretch out Blanco to be a starter early in camp. Blanco’s fastball averaged 95.2 mph last year and his slider averaged 87.3 mph. He also throws a changeup and curveball. Blanco made last year’s Opening Day roster and pitched in only seven games before being sent to Sugar Land, where he posted a 3.68 ERA with 58 strikeouts and 19 walks in 44 2/3 innings.

“He’s handled the work quite well,” Miller said. “The results speak for themselves.”

The Astros returned all the key pieces from their 2022 bullpen that posted a MLB-best 2.80 ERA and was lights-out in the playoffs: 0.83 ERA with 70 strikeouts in 54 1/3 innings. Four relievers -- Abreu, Neris, Montero and Pressly -- pitched in the WBC. Houston expects to have Pressly back in camp Wednesday following Team USA's WBC championship game against Japan on Tuesday night.

“We got some guys in camp that are still vying for that last spot,” Miller said. “Ronel has thrown the ball really well, Bielak is always an option that can provide length, Seth is a guy that did it for us last year in spots. I think that weighed into the decision a little bit [to option Gage].”