WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Ty Buttrey decided he was through with baseball at 28 years old. He was tired of the travel, the hotels, the weight room and everything else required to be a Major League pitcher. Simply put, he was burned out. In April 2021, Buttrey announced his retirement.

A hard-throwing reliever who had appeared in 115 career games with the Angels from 2018-20, Buttrey spent nine months on an emotional rollercoaster before deciding to quit focusing on the negative and be grateful for what the game had given him -- the adoring fans, the money and the purpose it gave him.

Buttrey returned to the Angels and spent the entire 2022 season in Triple-A before reuniting with former Angels pitching coach Doug White, who was now a private coach in San Diego. Buttrey flew from his home in North Carolina to work with White once a month, hoping to get his arsenal back on track. During a session last January, Buttrey hit 98 mph on his fastball.

¡°I was like, ¡®Oh, I think it¡¯s time we start calling some teams and see if we can find a place for you to play,¡¯¡± White said before the Astros' 4-3 loss to the Marlins on Monday afternoon, which featured a scoreless inning from Buttrey.

White, a former Astros bullpen coach and pitching coordinator, reached out to his former team, who signed Buttrey to a Minor League deal on Feb. 1. White even negotiated the contract, igniting his desire to become a certified agent in the future.

¡°I was like, if I want to be a better pitcher and I want to truly see how good I can be, I have to play with the best. I want to play with the best,¡± Buttrey said. ¡°That¡¯s what sealed the deal. The competition breaking with the club is going to be way more difficult than other organizations, but that¡¯s a challenge that for me raises my bar that I can hopefully achieve.¡±

As a coach, White had progressed through the Astros¡¯ system with Astros pitching coach Josh Miller and had hired pitching coach Bill Murphy. White knew Buttrey would be in good hands with Miller and Murphy.

¡°I understand how they¡¯re going to use technology to help observe and evaluate and then develop, and also I¡¯m comfortable with being able to be the middleman there, too,¡± White said. ¡°When Ty has meetings, he calls me and we talk. ¡­ I¡¯m going to be able to help him bridge that gap quickly, so that¡¯s a win-win for the Astros and Ty."

Buttrey, who turns 30 in a month, was drafted by the Red Sox out of high school in 2012 and was traded to the Angels in 2018. He made his Major League debut later that year, and in 2019 led all Angels relievers with 72 appearances. In the shortened 2020 season, he appeared in 27 games before deciding he wasn¡¯t having fun anymore. Buttrey said he was ¡°extremely¡± burned out.

¡°Certain things I wasn¡¯t taking care of, I wasn¡¯t addressing maybe as much attention as I needed to with anxiousness and perfection, trying to chase perfection and trying to be the very best and forcing it too much and getting caught up in the results,¡± he said. ¡°The highs and lows were super high and super low. It was a roller coaster and [has] been a roller coaster for 10 years. It brought me a lot of confusion, and I started just not really understanding certain things and started diving deep in my mindset and what I¡¯m doing to overcome it.¡±

Buttrey wanted to experience other things. He started a non-profit with his wife, Samantha, in the Virgin Islands and did a camp in Honduras. He and his wife did a daily podcast called ¡°Behind the Lights,¡± and started a website. In the mornings, they worked out -- ice bath, run, sauna, swim -- and hustled back to the computer to research entrepreneurship opportunities.

¡°It gave me a lot of perspective in the game and made me realize I was looking at the game incorrectly,¡± he said. ¡°I wasn¡¯t focusing on the positives of the game; I was focusing on the negatives.¡±

Buttrey knows it¡¯s going to be extremely difficult to crack the Astros' bullpen. Houston had the best bullpen in the Major Leagues last year, and all of its marquee relievers are returning in 2023. Barring an injury, Buttrey will have to begin the season in Triple-A.

¡°I¡¯m just looking at this like, if I can do what I do and I can pitch how I know I pitch, get my velocity back to where it is and increase a few things, I know I have a shot to break with this club,¡± he said. ¡°If not, if I can go down to Sugar Land and I continue doing things, there¡¯s no reason why I can¡¯t be one of the best bullpen arms in this game."