by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (6/16/2013) Astros closer Jose Veras was far from flawless in the ninth inning Sunday against the White Sox, but he did enough to earn his 14th save during a 5-4 win. Veras allowed a two-out, two-run homer to Alejandro De Aza before ending Chicago's rally by getting Alexei Ramirez to ground out.
Veras was charged with two runs on two hits. He recorded a save in each game of the three-game series as Houston swept Chicago. Veras has five saves in June.
Jose Veras earns 13th save
by Igor Mello | CBSSports.com (6/15/2013) Astros closer Jose Veras earned his 13th save Saturday night against the White Sox.
Veras worked his way around a walk to preserve a 4-3 win. He has converted 13 of 16 save opportunities and has a 3.60 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP in 30 appearances.
Jose Veras earns 12th save
by R.J. White | CBSSports.com (6/14/2013) Astros closer Jose Veras earned his 12th save of the season Friday against the White Sox, allowing one walk and striking out one but giving up no runs in a 2-1 victory.
Veras threw just nine of his 20 pitches for strikes, which was his sixth straight scoreless appearance. He's 12 for 15 in save opportunities and owns a 3.72 ERA in 29 innings.
Jose Veras puts Orioles away
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (6/6/2013) Astros closer Jose Veras pitched the top of the ninth Wednesday against the Orioles in a non-save situation with a four-run lead.
Veras gave up a hit but struck out two to end the 11-7 game. He needed 13 pitches to lower his ERA to 4.00.
The 32-year-old has 11 saves in 14 chances and has struck out 31 over 27 innings.
Jose Veras shaky for 11th save
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (6/4/2013) Astros closer Jose Veras recorded his 11th save Monday in Anaheim in a 2-1 win over the Angels.
Veras gave up a hit and walked a batter in the ninth to make things interesting, but also struck out two over 22 pitches. His ERA is at 4.15.
Veras has saves in three straight appearances as the Astros have won six straight games. He's 11 for 14 in save situations on the year, but his last blown save was back on May 24.
Jose Veras escapes with tenth save
by Igor Mello | CBSSports.com (6/2/2013) Astros closer Jose Veras escaped with his 10th save of the season Saturday night against the Angels.
Veras, who entered the game in the ninth with a two-run lead, plunked a batter and allowed a two-out single before forcing Mike Trout to ground out to a fielder's choice for the final out of the frame. Veras has converted 10 of 13 save opportunities this season.
Jose Veras strikes out two in save
by R.J. White | CBSSports.com (6/1/2013) Astros closer Jose Veras struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth inning to earn his ninth save Friday against the Angels.
Veras had surrendered runs in each of his previous two outings, and three of his last four, before Friday. He has a 4.50 ERA and 26:10 K:BB ratio in 24 innings.
Jose Veras receives day of rest Thursday
by R.J. White | CBSSports.com (5/30/2013) After pitching on three straight days, Astros closer Jose Veras will be unavailable Thursday against the Rockies, the Houston Chronicle reports.
Veras has allowed a run in each of his last two appearances, taking the loss Tuesday to drop to 0-4. He has a 4.70 ERA in 23 innings.
Jose Veras serves up home run
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (5/30/2013) Astros closer Jose Veras, fresh off a backing from manager Bo Porter, gave up a run in the ninth inning Wednesday in Colorado.
Veras was pitching in a non-save situation with a four-run lead which became three after he served up Troy Tulowitzki's second homer of the game.
Veras struck out a batter and the homer was the only hit he allowed. He threw 13 pitches and his ERA is at 4.70.
Jose Veras still the closer
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (5/29/2013) Astros manager Bo Porter will keep giving the ball to Jose Veras in save situations, the Houston Chronicle reports Wednesday.
Veras has allowed four runs over his last three appearances, taking two losses. He also has pitched two days in a row and may not be available Wednesday.
Jose Veras hit with loss
by Chris Towers | CBSSports.com (5/28/2013) Astros closer Jose Veras has not had many opportunities to save games, but that does not mean he isn't pitching in high-stress situations. Veras failed in just one such situation Tuesday, in a 2-1 loss to the Rockies.
Veras entered in the top of the ninth inning with the game 1-1 and allowed a double to leadoff hitter Troy Tulowitzki. Tulowitzki advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single before Veras was able to end the inning. He two hits and a walk in one inning.
Veras (0-4) has a 4.50 ERA with three blown saves in 11 opportunitiee.
Jose Veras blows save with three-run home run
by R.J. White | CBSSports.com (5/24/2013) Astros closer Jose Veras suffered his third blown save of the season by allowing a three-run home run in the ninth inning Friday against the A's. Veras is 0-3 with a 4.50 ERA after the loss.
Veras had converted six-straight save opportunities heading into Friday, but he walked two before giving up the home run. It was the second home run Veras has allowed this season.
Jose Veras on a roll
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (5/22/2013) Astros closer Jose Veras earned his eighth save Wednesday against the Royals.
He had a 1-2-3 ninth to secure a 3-1 win. He threw 13 pitches and his ERA is 3.32.
Veras has saves in four-straight appearances and hasn't allowed a hit or run in seven-consecutive outings.
Jose Veras on a roll for Astros
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (5/21/2013) Astros closer Jose Veras earned his seventh save Monday versus the Royals. Veras closed out a 6-5 win.
He went 1-2-3 with two strikeouts against Kansas City. His ERA is 3.50. Veras has earned saves in five of his last six appearances since his last blown save.
Jose Veras earns save in extra innings
by R.J. White | CBSSports.com (5/18/2013) Astros closer Jose Veras closed out the 11th inning of a 4-2 win over the Pirates Saturday night. He struck out one in a perfect inning for his sixth save.
After allowing five runs in 4 2/3 innings over his first five appearances, Veras has scoreless outings in 11 of his last 12 appearances. He has a 3.71 ERA and has converted 75 percent of his save opportunites.
Jose Veras shuts door on Tigers
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (5/15/2013) Houston closer Jose Veras was able to enter the game in the bottom of the ninth Wednesday in Detroit with a 7-5 lead after the Astros scored twice in the top of the frame. Veras kept the score that way as he notched his fifth save.
Veras walked two batters but didn't allow any runs or hits over 26 pitches, 16 strikes. His ERA is now at 3.94 and he's picked up saves in three of his last five appearances.
Jose Veras puts out fire for fourth save
by R.J. White | CBSSports.com (5/8/2013) Astros closer Jose Veras was called upon with no outs and runners on first and third in the ninth inning of a 3-1 game Wednesday against the Angels, but ended the rally with three straight outs, including one by strikeout. It was the fourth save of the season for Veras, who owns a 4.50 ERA and 16:4 K:BB ratio in 14 innings this season.
Jose Veras picks up save
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (5/7/2013) Astros closer Jose Veras earned his third save of the season on Tuesday night at home against the Angels. Veras went 1-2-3 in the ninth to close out a 7-6 win.
The Houston closer struck out a batter and needed 13 pitches. He's gone 3 for 5 in save situations and has allowed seven earned runs over 13 innings for an ERA of 4.85.
Jose Veras blows second save
by Adam Moore | CBSSports.com (5/4/2013) Astros reliever Jose Veras blew his second save Friday night against the Tigers. Veras came on in the ninth inning with a 4-3 lead and issued a leadoff walk to Don Kelly.
He did get Jhonny Peralta to fly out for the first out before allowing a two-run home run to Alex Avila, which put Detroit up for good.
Veras was able to finish out the inning but saw his ERA balloon to 5.25 from 4.09 after his outing. He is 2 for 4 in save chances.
Jose Veras strikes out all four in non-save situation
by R.J. White | CBSSports.com (5/3/2013) Astros closer Jose Veras was called upon in the eighth inning of a tie game Thursday against the Tigers and struck out all four of the batters he faced before the game moved into extra innings.
It was the most dominant outing of the season for Veras, who hasn't allowed a hit in his last three appearances and hasn't walked a batter in his last six. He has a 4.09 ERA in 11 innings but only two saves this year.
Jose Veras not seeing save chances
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (4/28/2013) Astros closer Jose Veras has had few save opportunities thus far this season, MLB.com reports. Manager Bo Porter is just trying to keep him sharp with little work. Veras has appeared in 10 games and has only seen three save chances.
"I would love for Jose Veras to close five games in a row," Porter said. "Unfortunately, we haven't had that situation, but I'm not going to stymie his ability to get out [on] the mound and get the juices flowing. It's one thing to throw in the bullpen and [another] to get live game action on the mound. Whether or not we have a [save] situation, I'm not going to let him sit down there four days and not get in the game. In a perfect world, you want it to be every time once he gets in the game it's a closing situation. I have to make sure and be cognizant to keep him fresh."
Veras has gone 2 for 3 in save chances this season. He only has seven career saves.
"It's a long season," Veras said. "It doesn't matter to me, as long as I pitch to help the team win ballgames. I don't think about saves. If I can get out there and get a 1-2-3 inning and keep the lead or win the game, I will be there. We're going to be OK."
Jose Veras will get more saves than you think
by Nando Di Fino | Senior Fantasy Writer (4/25/2013) Astros closer Jose Veras is owned in just 28 percent of our leagues, an ownership number lower than those of Kelly Johnson, Travis d'Arnaud and Jake Westbrook. This seems off, as Veras is the closer for a team that has scored the 14th-most runs in baseball (more than the Tigers, Blue Jays, or Brewers).
The Astros were a wasteland at the end of last year, trading away nearly all of their talent and trotting out a rag-tag group of underqualified hitters to finish out 2012. But the 2013 Astros have better bats than many people realize. And even if you don't think that the Astros will be any good, there's a long history of successful closers on bad teams getting plenty of saves.
Veras is untested as a closer, but he has a 10.3 K/9 over the last three years, along with a 3.73 ERA. It's understandable that Fantasy players will be down on Veras because of his inexperience, but don't hit him with the additional whammy of being on a Houston team incapable of scoring runs. There will be save opportunities for the Astros this year, and knowing this could help you sneak Veras onto your roster.
Jose Veras sharp for second save
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (4/23/2013) Astros closer Jose Veras shut down the Mariners in the ninth inning Tuesday night to earn his second save. Veras held a 3-2 lead for Houston.
He went 1-2-3 in the ninth as he struck out two batters for the save. He needed just seven pitches. Veras has two saves in his last four appearances since blowing his first of the year. He has not allowed a run over that span with four Ks.
Jose Veras finally converts save
by Adam Moore | CBSSports.com (4/20/2013) Astros closer Jose Veras earned his first save of the year Friday night against the Indians. Veras retired three of the four batters he faced in the ninth.
The right-hander was able to pitch around a one-out single and needed just seven pitches to close out Cleveland. Veras is 1 for 2 in save chances.
Jose Veras can't hang on late
by Igor Mello | CBSSports.com (4/14/2013) Astros reliever Jose Veras could not hang on to a late lead as he blew his first save of the season Saturday night against the Angels.
Veras, who entered the game with a one-run advantage in the ninth inning, surrendered a walkoff two-run double to Albert Pujols to lose the game. Veras was charged with two runs on two hits in two-thirds of an inning in a 5-4 defeat. He also struck out one and walked one in 19 pitches.
Veras has a 9.64 ERA and a 2.36 WHIP through 4 2/3 innings pitches.
by Ed Gauna | CBSSports.com (4/3/2013)Jose Veras made his Astros debut on Tuesday night against the Rangers. He came on in the ninth with his team trailing by five and allowed two runs on two hits over his inning of work. The right-hander also struck out three and walked one while throwing 21 pitches, 16 for strikes.
Jose Veras is still to be avoided
by Al Melchior | Data Analyst (4/2/2013)Jose Veras is climbing the charts of our Most Added players list, as he remains the most likely candidate to close out games for the Astros. Veras does have a few things going for him, but owners should think twice before ending their closer search with him.
On the positive side, Veras is a proven strikeout producer and has little viable competition for the closer's role. The negatives include high walk rates, mediocre strand rates for a reliever, middling ground ball rates and a lack of experience as a closer.
While the rest of the bullpen is short on potential ninth-inning men, it only takes one to unseat the incumbent, and Rule 5 player Josh Fields could very well be capable of doing just that.
Bobby Parnell, Carlos Marmol and Kyuji Fujikawa are also available in a large percentage of leagues, so it's worth your time to see if one of them can be claimed. (Between Marmol and Fujikawa, I'd actually rather have the latter Cub, and he's available in more leagues.) Only if they and more popular relievers are gone should you consider settling for Veras.
Jose Veras tosses another scoreless inning
by Igor Mello | CBSSports.com (3/30/2013) Astros reliever Jose Veras made his eighth appearance of the spring in Friday's contest against the Cubs.
Veras entered the game in the fourth inning and pitched a scoreless inning. He walked one and struck out two as he improved his ERA to 4.70 in Cactus League play.
The 32-year is expected to get the first opportunity to close games once the season begins.
Bo Porter 'confident' in bullpen
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (3/28/2013) Astros manager Bo Porter said Thursday he likes the makeup of his team's bullpen. While Jose Veras is expected to get the first chance to close games, Porter said the eighth-inning role will be determined by matchups. He mentioned Alex White could work in long relief, while Hector Ambriz and Rhiner Cruz are right-handed relievers that can pitch multiple innings. Porter mentioned Xavier Cedeno as a left-handed reliever who could pitch multiple frames.
“I love the fact we have two lefties down there who are capable of getting out some of the better left-handed hitters in our league,” he said to MLB.com. “We also have a long guy, we have a good mix of guys who can pitch in the back end. I’m pretty confident in our bullpen.”
Jose Veras strikes out the side in scoreless inning
by R.J. White | CBSSports.com (3/27/2013) Astros reliever Jose Veras struck out the side in a scoreless fifth inning against the Mets Wednesday, making an impressive bid for closing duties in Houston. Veras has allowed four earned runs in 6 2/3 innings this spring while striking out seven batters and has held opponents scoreless in his last three outings.
by R.J. White | CBSSports.com (3/14/2013) Astros reliever Rhiner Cruz retired the only batter he faced Thursday, extending his scoreless-outing streak to four this spring by inducing a groundball double play with men on first and third and one out against the Astros.
Cruz has allowed just one hit and no walks while recording three strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings this spring, potentially putting him in the mix for closer consideration in Houston. Jose Veras, who was the favorite to close for the Astros entering the spring, has allowed two earned runs on two hits and a walk in his three innings of work while striking out six.
Jose Veras not officially Astros' closer
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (3/14/2013) On Thursday, Astros manager Bo Porter echoed general manager Jeff Lunhow's statement about reliever Jose Veras not officially being the Astros' closer, according the Houston Chronicle. However, Porter didn't name any candidates for the closer's role.
Veras has a 6.00 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in three spring outings (three innings). He also has six strikeouts.
Veras serves up long ball
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (2/24/2013) Houston projected closer Jose Veras took the mound on Sunday in the third inning of a Grapefruit League game against the Mets. Veras struck out the side in his inning of work, but also surrendered a two-run homer to Jordany Valdespin. Veras walked one and allowed the HR as his only hit given up.
Veras considered 'initial closer'
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (2/11/2013) The Houston Chronicle reports Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow said the team could take a closer-by-committee approach until the season takes shape, but Jose Veras remains penciled in as the initial closer.
Veras could be Astros' closer
by Al Melchior | Data Analyst (12/30/2012) According to multiple sources, the Astros will give recently-signed reliever Jose Veras a chance to compete for the closer's job in spring training. Veras has only five career saves, and over the last three seasons, he has been used primarily in a setup role, recording 56 holds for the Brewers, Pirates and Marlins. Last season with Milwaukee, Veras went 5-4 with a 3.63 ERA and 79 strikeouts over 67 innings. Prospect Jarred Cosart has also been named as a potential closer candidate.
Veras signs on with Astros
by Al Melchior | Data Analyst (12/18/2012) ESPN.com reports that the Astros have agreed to sign reliever Jose Veras to a one-year deal worth $2 million. The Astros also have an option on Veras for the 2014 season. The 32-year-old righty pitched for the Brewers in 2012, and he went 5-4 with a 3.63 ERA.
