Houston Astros could use bullpen

“We’ve talked about maybe bringing in some relief pitchers to give the guys in the back of the bullpen a little bit of a break,” Brown said on the team’s pregame radio show. “We really tested those guys in the first half. So if we can add a bullpen guy, that would be great.”

So the evidence came in a 6-2 loss to the Dodgers that kept the Astros from pulling off a sweep. Houston started the eighth inning trailing by one run. Left-hander Bryan King, who had come in to face Shohei Ohtani in the seventh and struck out three to end the inning, returned to the mound.

Leverage options for manager Joe Espada were limited. Bryan Abreu and Tayler Scott had pitched each of the last two nights. Closer Josh Hader wouldn’t appear until the ninth. Ryan Pressly was available, but Espada later explained his reluctance to deploy Pressly in a thin-roster game.

“We still have a lot of baseball left to play,” Espada said. “King, after hitting Ohtani and having those lefties on his side in the next inning, has full confidence in himself and knows he can get the job done.”

Preserving the defensive trio of Hader, Pressly and Abreu is paramount for the Astros to get going in the second half. Abreu has already pitched in 51 of their 105 games. Hader has made 45 appearances and Pressly has made 42. Espada admitted he leaned on them in the first half to help Houston catch up after a disastrous start to the season.

It’s a balance that can be difficult to find given the current structure of the bullpen. Scott has managed to earn a bigger role, but the Astros seem less inclined to use half of their relief unit in pressure situations, including their third-highest-paid reliever, who was a key part of their team two seasons ago.

Rafael Montero has a career record that’s nearly even against left-handed and right-handed hitters. In the eighth inning Sunday, right-hander Teoscar Hernández was scheduled to lead off for Los Angeles, followed by left-handers Gavin Lux and Jason Heyward. The top of the Astros’ order was looming in the bottom of the inning, adding to the importance of keeping the deficit to one run.

The fact that Montero didn’t play in that situation offered a glimpse of where he stands now. Before Sunday, nine of Montero’s last 10 outings had come in situations where he didn’t have much leverage, according to Baseball Reference’s leverage index. He woke up with a 4.58 ERA in 40 appearances, doing little to regain the role he conceded when he posted a 5.08 ERA in 68 outings last year.

Right-handed specialist Seth Martinez had already pitched. Shawn Dubin is the Astros’ only pitching option. So King returned to the mound to start the eighth inning. He faced three batters. Hernández sent his first pitch of the inning into the Crawford Boxes. Lux drew a walk and Heyward singled. A two-out single by Cavan Biggio off Dubin allowed Lux ​​to score to extend the Dodgers’ lead to three.

It was a game-changer in a tight game and illustrated why the Astros might be looking for help beyond a rotation reinforcement in the next 48 hours. However, it also came shortly after a reminder of what the effort could cost.

According to Brown, the seller’s market is driving up prices for starting pitchers at this year’s deadline. Good relief help might not get much cheaper. On Sunday morning, the Padres shipped three prospects, including one of their top pitching prospects, to the Rays in exchange for pitcher Jason Adam.

Houston’s scouting system isn’t very well-ranked, and it will have to compete with stronger teams for pitching help. The Astros were able to acquire a starter and a reliever at last year’s deadline, Justin Verlander and Kendall Graveman, on separate deals. In doing so, they parted ways with three of their top five prospects as evaluated by outside evaluations.

None of those options will help in the short term, though. The quickest way for Houston to bolster its rotation and relief corps would be to make a deal, or several, before 5 p.m. Central time Tuesday. Brown said Sunday that the Astros have expanded their trade talks to other suitors, and if teams prove sellers in the next 48 hours, it could “open the market up a little bit more.”

“It’s pretty obvious we could use a starter,” Brown said on the team’s pregame show. “We’ve kind of put the pieces together for that fifth starter spot. We’ve got seven starters on the injured list. So it’s no secret we need a starter. But if we can get a reliever, that would really help us.”