Astros All-Star closer Ryan Pressly nearing return from knee injury?

McTaggart added in his report on Pressly that the hurler "needed just six pitches to navigate a scoreless inning for Triple-A Sugar Land against El Paso in his first Minor League rehab assignment May 3" and he "induced three groundouts, one of which was against Padres designated hitter Luke Voit, who was also on rehab assignment." Pressly was placed on the 10-day IL in mid-April.

The 2007 11th-round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox spent the first five-plus seasons of his career from 2013 to 2018 with the Minnesota Twins as a late-inning reliever before being traded to Houston in July 2018. Pressly made his first All-Star team in 2019 as part of the Astros' bridge to closer Roberto Osuna, finishing the year with a 2.32 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 72 strikeouts against just 12 walks across 54 1/3 innings covering 55 games.

Pressley was strong again during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign and had arguably his best year in 2021. Last season, the 33-year-old had career-best numbers in saves (26) and ERA (2.25), while recording a 0.96 WHIP and 81 strikeouts against 13 walks in 64 innings over 64 games.