Christopher Michael Devenski...On Twitter: @ddddeevvvoooo....Nicknamed the “Dragon” by Double-A manager Rodney Linares in 2015 after a mound visit in which Devenski insisted on remaining in the game…Linares complied, but on his way off the mound he told Devenski to “unleash the dragon”…Devenski escaped the jam with a strikeout....Was introduced to throwing a change-up, known as the “Circle of Death,” by a photo on a baseball card....Finished collegiate career with one season at Cal State Fullerton after starting at Golden West College (Huntington Beach, CA) for first two years of college career....Attended Gahr HS (Cerritos, Calif.), where he was a three year letter winner...Was a two-way player as a pitcher and shortstop, but excelled on the mound, earning 1st Team All-League in the San Gabriel Valley League as a senior....Father, Mike, runs a moving company, M&M Moving and Storage, in Artesia, Calif...Chris joined him on occasion, including one off season at Freddie Freeman’s childhood home....Originally signed by White Sox scout Mike Baker.
2022
Began year on injured list with Triple-A Reno and made season debut June 21 with first of three games on rehab assignment with ACL Diamondbacks Red...Joined Reno on July 1 for six appearances before receiving Major League promotion July 26... Appeared in 10 games for Diamondbacks, earning two wins and was unscored upon in first four outings (4.2 IP)... Was designated for assignment Aug. 25 and signed by Philadelphia as a Minor League free agent, Aug. 28... With Triple-A Lehigh Valley, allowed one run in 8.2 IP (1.04 ERA) across nine appearances... Had contract selected by Phillies, Sept. 25...Made Phillies debut, Sept. 27 at Cubs, working a perfect inning... Totaled three games for Philadelphia... Was not selected to Phillies postseason rosters.
2021
Pitched in eight games with Arizona before undergoing Tommy John surgery in June...Save on April 4 @ Padres was his first since April 17, 2018, @ Mariners (span of 106 appearances)...Placed on 60-day injured list May 15 (sprained right ulnar collateral ligament) and underwent surgery June 2 (performed by Dr. Keith Meister).
2020
Limited to just 4 games with the Astros due to 2 stints on the injured list...On the injured list with right elbow inflammation from July 29-Sept. 4 and Sept. 7 to the end of season)...Had a bone spur removed from his right elbow on Sept. 15.
2019
Pitched in 61 games, the second-most in his career in a single season behind his 2017 campaign (62g)... averaged 94.7 mph on his fastball, the highest single-season average fastball velocity of his career...held opponents to a .208 batting average (22x106) against his changeup... pitched a scoreless 9th inning in the Astros combined no-hitter on Aug. 3 vs. SEA, which was exactly seven years since the Astros acquired him from the White Sox...stranded 15-of-19 inherited runners on the season (78.9%), the second-best mark of his career behind his 2016 rookie season (27-of-30, 90%)...started the season on the Astros Opening Day roster for the third time...in 10 games in April, posted a 3.00 ERA (3ER/9IP) with eight strikeouts...recorded a seven-game scoreless streak from May 20-June 6, tossing 8.0 IP, while striking out 12 batters...picked up two wins in June, both coming against Seattle (June 6 at SEA and June 29 vs. SEA)...started on Aug. 13 at CWS after Gerrit Cole was scratched during pregame warmups...gave up 1 earned run in 2.0 innings pitched, his seventh-career Major League start...in eight games in September, posted a 1.80 ERA (2ER/10IP) with seven strikeouts...ended the season with five-straight scoreless outings...made the Astros roster for the World Series and pitched in three of the seven games (Games 2, 4, 6)...gave up three runs in 3.0 innings pitched...his outing in Game 6 of the World Series was his eighth-career appearance in the World Series, the most in Astros franchise history.
2018
Made 50 appearances and served a stint on the Disabled List for the first time in his career...was pitching at an All-Star level heading into July, as he had gone 2-1 with two saves, a 1.34 ERA (5ER/33.2IP), seven walks and 40 strikeouts over his first 34 games of the season...from July through the end of the year, posted an 11.20 ERA (17ER/13.2IP) in 16 games...made his second-career appearance on the Astros Opening Day roster...was placed on the 10-day Disabled List on Aug. 3 with left hamstring tightness...was activated from the DL on Aug. 29...missed 24 team games...struck out three batters en route to his first save on the season on April 13 vs. TEX...entering July, ranked fifth among AL relievers in ERA (1.34) and tied for fourth in holds (15)...was holding right-handed hitters to a .191 batting average (9x47) and left-handed hitters to a .176 mark (12x68)...had also kept the opposition to a .114 average (4x35) with runners in scoring position heading into July...posted two separate 12-game scoreless appearance streaks (12.1IP from April 3-May 3 and 11.1IP from June 1-July 1), the longest scoreless appearance streaks of his career...upon his return from the DL, posted a 2.70 ERA (2ER/6.2IP) across his seven relief appearances...made his first start of the season and the sixth of his career on Sept. 26 at TOR (2ER/2IP)...was his first start since Aug. 11, 2016 at MIN...pitched in five games (2 starts) on an injury rehab assignment split between Triple A Fresno (2g) and Double A Corpus Christi (3g)...struck out 10 with one walk, allowing four runs in 4.2 innings pitched (7.71 ERA).
2017
The 26-year-old continued the successful start to his career in his sophomore campaign...went 8-5 with four saves and a 2.68 ERA (24ER/80.2IP) in 62 outings, all out of the bullpen...was named to the 2017 AL All-Star Team... was his first All-Star appearance in only his second Major League season...pitched a perfect 8th inning, inducing one strikeout in the AL's 2-1 win...his eight relief wins ranked tied for second in the Majors...ranked fourth in MLB and second in the AL in relief innings (80.2)...among AL relievers ranked tied for second in strikeouts (100), tied for sixth in holds (24), tied for 11th in WHIP (0.94) and 12th in opponent average (.174)...led the Majors in opponent batting average against left-handers (.111, 16x144)...was the lowest single-season mark in franchise history, and second lowest in Major League history...trailed only RHP Jonathan Papelbon (.104, 2007)...with 100 strikeouts, was the 12th time in franchise history when an Astros reliever reached the 100-strikeout milestone... threw his changeup 37.8% of the time per FanGraphs.com...was second to his fastball (39.3%)...his changeup generated a whiff on 48.39% of swings, which ranked fourth among Major League pitchers with at least 200 changeups thrown...held batters to a .138 average on the pitch, which ranked fifth under the same criteria... owned a 1.83 ERA at home (9ER/44.1IP), which ranked second in the AL among pitchers with at least 40IP...trailed only RHP Corey Kluber (1.81)...his 74 strikeouts ranked third in club history by a reliever prior to the All-Star Break, trailing only RHP Brad Lidge (78 in 2004) and LHP Billy Wagner (75 in 1999)...per Elias, matched a team record for fewest innings needed to reach 20 strikeouts to start a season (10IP)...tied LHP Billy Wagner (1999)...made 10 postseason appearances, which led all Astros relievers...was scoreless in 6 of his 10 outings...made his first career Opening Day roster, and remained on the active roster through the season...has been on the Astros active roster since having his contract selected on April 7, 2016...threw 4.0 innings in each of his first two outings this season on April 5 and April 9, striking out seven on both dates...became the second reliever in MLB history to start a season with consecutive 4.0+ inning, seven+ strikeout outings, joining RHP Liam Hendriks (2013)...with his first scoreless outing, became the first pitcher in ML history with multiple relief outings of 4.0+ hitless innings and seven+ strikeouts...also threw 4.1 hitless innings with seven strikeouts on Aug. 1, 2016 vs. TOR...threw 2.1 innings en route to his first save of the season on April 20 vs. LAA...was the first save of seven-or-more outs with a lead of three runs or less since Detroit's LHP Drew Smyly recorded a 4.0-inning save on April 5, 2013 vs. NYY...threw nine consecutive scoreless appearances from June 17-July 5, spanning 12.2 innings pitched...was the second-longest scoreless appearance streak of his career, behind an 11-game streak he posted from Aug. 27-Sept. 20, 2016...was the fourth-longest active scoreless innings streak in the AL...allowed four hits and two walks with 17 strikeouts over the course of the streak...since giving up a run in three straight outings from July 17-23, went 2-2 with 10 holds, a 2.01 ERA (5ER/22.1IP) and 22 strikeouts in his last 22 appearances (July 28-Sept. 29)...took the win in Game 2 of the World Series...gave up 1 run in 1.1 innings.
2016
In what was his first Major League season, Devenski had one of the best rookie seasons by a reliever in club history, receiving Astros Rookie of the Year and Pitcher of the Year recognition by the Houston Chapter of the BBWAA, and finishing fourth in the AL Rookie of the Year voting...in 43 relief outings, went 3-2 with one save, a 1.61 ERA (15ER/83.2IP), 83 strikeouts, 12 walks, .194 opponent average (56x289) and an 0.81 WHIP... set club records for a rookie reliever in both ERA (previously RHP Dave Smith, 1.93 in 1980) and WHIP (previously RHP Bill Dawley, 0.92 in 1983)...posted 2.8 wins above replacement, the highest total in club history by a rookie reliever, ahead of RHP Dave Veres (2.8 in 1995)...his 2.8 WAR also ranked sixth in club history by a rookie pitcher overall, trailing only RHP Roy Oswalt (4.7 in 2001), RHP Collin McHugh (4.2 in 2014), RHP Don Wilson (3.8 in 1967), RHP Ken Forsch (3.6 in 1971) and RHP Tom Griffin (3.1 in 1969)...posted the fourth-lowest, single-season ERA by an Astros reliever in club history (1.61), trailing only RHP Don McMahon (1.53 ERA in 1962), RHP Larry Andersen (1.54 ERA in 1989) and LHP Billy Wagner (1.57 ERA in 1999)...also posted the second-lowest single season WHIP by an Astros reliever in club history (0.81), behind LHP Billy Wagner's 0.78 mark set in 1999... led all American League relievers in inherited runners scored percentage (10.0%, stranded 27-of-30 IR), while ranking second in innings pitched, second in WHIP, third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.92), third in opponent OPS (.511), fourth in WAR (2.8) and fourth in ERA...ranked second in the Majors in multi-inning relief outings (27)... became the first Astros pitcher since RHP Brad Lige in 2004 to post 27 multi-inning relief outings in a single season... also led the Majors in relief outings of at least 3.0 innings pitched (10), which marked the most by an Astro since 1983, when RHP Vern Ruhle and RHP Bill Dawley both recorded 10 outings of at least 3.0 innings...led all Major League rookies in ERA, WHIP (0.91), opponent batting average (.206), strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.20), home runs per 9.0 innings ratio (0.33) and appearances (min. 100IP)...led all AL rookies in walks per 9.0 innings (1.66) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (8.64) (min. 100IP), while ranking second in WAR (2.8), tied for third in strikeouts (104) and fourth in innings pitched (108.1)...posted the second-best ERA by a rookie reliever (1.61) in an eight-season span (since 2009), behind only RHP Dellin Betances' 1.40 ERA in 2014...made five starts over the course of the year, going 1-2 with a 4.01 ERA (11ER/24.2IP), 21 strikeouts, eight walks and a .245 (23x94) opponent average... allowed two runs or less in four of his five starts...was a non-roster invitee at Astros Spring Training...did not make the Astros Opening Day roster, but was selected to the Major League roster on April 7...was slated to start for Triple A Fresno on minor league opening day, but instead joined the Astros in New York at Yankee Stadium...made his Major League debut on April 8 at MIL and threw 3.0 innings of scoreless relief, allowing one hit with four strikeouts...became the fourth reliever in club history to toss 3.0+ scoreless innings in his Major League debut, joining RHP Jose Cisnero (2013), RHP Bill Dawley (1983) and LHP Joe Hoerner (1963)...his eight strikeouts over his first three games in the Majors were the most by a reliever in franchise history...despite his stellar numbers to start the year, the Astros went 0-13 in his first 13 career games before he pitched 2.0 innings in a 12-2 Astros win on June 3 vs. OAK...marked a franchise-long streak for team games lost to start a pitcher's career (previously LHP Xavier Cedeno, 12 games from 2011-12)...earned his first career save on June 19 vs. CIN after tossing 3.1 scoreless innings...became the first Astros pitcher with a save of 3.1 innings since LHP Erik Bedard did so on Opening Day of the 2013 season vs. TEX (March 31)...posted the second-lowest ERA by an Astros rookie prior to the All-Star Break in club history (2.30)...trailed only RHP Ken Forsch (2.27 ERA in 1971)... threw 4.1 perfect innings and struck out seven consecutive batters on Aug. 1 vs. TOR...fell one strikeout shy of the club record for consecutive strikeouts, held by LHP Jim Deshaies (eight on Sept. 23, 1986 vs. LAD)...marked a single-game career high for strikeouts...became the third pitcher in club history to toss 4.1+ perfect innings of relief in a game, joining rookies LHP Frank DiPino (5IP on May 6, 1983 at ATL) and RHP Jim Ray (4.1IP on Aug. 10, 1968 vs. PIT)...became the first Major League reliever to strike out seven in an outing of at least 4.1 perfect innings since RHP Max Scherzer did April 29, 2008 vs. HOU (4.1IP, 7SO)...earned his first Major League win in a spot start on Aug. 11 at MIN in Game 2 of Houston's doubleheader...threw 5.0 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits with five strikeouts...threw 3.2 perfect innings en route to his fourth win on Sept. 20 at OAK...became the third Major League reliever since 1913 to record multiple perfect outings of at least 3.2 innings in a single season, joining RHP Mike Bacsik (1979) and RHP Neil Allen (1984)...set a club record for WHIP (0.74) after the AllStar Break...set club rookie records for ERA (1.99), opponent average (.177), strikeout-to-walk ratio (9.50), and strikeouts per 9.0 innings (10.33) after the All-Star Break.
