Pressly exits hurt, but expects to pitch in WS
HOUSTON -- All-Star reliever Ryan Pressly says he expects to be available to pitch in the World Series after injuring his surgically repaired right knee in the third inning of the Astros¡¯ 6-4 win in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series on Saturday night at Minute Maid Park.
Pressly, who missed a month near the end of the regular season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery, was forced to leave the game after experiencing discomfort in the right knee while fielding a grounder off the bat of Didi Gregorius. Pressly's right foot appeared to briefly get stuck in the grass while he fielded the ball, and he grimaced in pain while making the tag for the last out of the inning.
¡°Not really concerned anymore,¡± Pressly said. ¡°I went to go grab the ground ball and when I pushed off to go grab it, I felt a pop in my knee. I went and got it checked out and it¡¯s just some scar tissue we think just broke off. It was more scary than anything.¡±
As Pressly was walking off the field, he motioned toward the dugout as if to say he was done and couldn¡¯t pitch anymore. He threw only the one pitch, so he definitely would have headed back out to pitch the fourth inning in a game in which Houston was relying completely on relievers.
¡°We just had some doctors check it and everything should be fine,¡± Pressly said. ¡°We¡¯ll come in [Sunday] and get it looked at again and make sure there¡¯s no more swelling. Everything checked out good.¡±
Pressly is considered day to day, but if the injury is serious enough, the Astros could replace him on the roster, most likely with right-hander Chris Devenski.
¡°Our feeling here is he wouldn¡¯t have been able to pitch tomorrow,¡± Astros president of baseball operations and general manager Jeff Luhnow said. ¡°We¡¯ll see how he is tomorrow, but there¡¯s a pretty decent chance he¡¯ll be able to go on Tuesday, and that¡¯s really what¡¯s important right now.¡±
Pressly came up huge for Houston in Game 4 of the ALCS on Thursday night, entering the game in the fifth inning with runners on first and second and striking out a pair after issuing a walk that loaded the bases. On May 24 of this year, his record scoreless streak of 40 games was snapped.