When the Astros acquired Ryan Pressley before the 2018 trade deadline from the Twins they hoped they'd be able to make him even better than he already was.
It's safe to say they have done just that.
With Pressly's scoreless eighth inning against the Red Sox on Friday, the righty has now gone 39 straight appearances without allowing a run in the regular season.
That breaks former Red Sox reliever Craig Kimbrel's previous record of 38 consecutive games.
Ryan Pressly has set a Major League record tonight with his 39th consecutive scoreless outing.
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) May 18, 2019
The Astros saw something in Pressly many other teams didn't see when they went after him.
Pressly posts some of the highest spin rates in MLB which Houston covets. When the Astros first signed Collin McHugh in 2013, they did so hoping he was better than the 10.04 ERA he posted with the Mets and Rockies in 2013.
All he did in his first season with Houston was win 11 games and post a 2.73 ERA.
With Pressly, the Astros saw a similar opportunity. The Texas native was pitching well with the Twins as he boasted a 3.40 ERA in 51 appearances with the team, but Houston was hoping for even more.
In his first year with the team, he posted a 0.77 ERA in 26 outings down the stretch while cutting his base hits in half as he went from allowing 8.7 per nine innings to 4.2. He has built on that success this season as his ERA sits at 0.00 through 18 appearances.
He hasn't even allowed an unearned run.
The Astros were hoping they would find a diamond in the rough with Pressly and it's hard to argue what he has done since signing with the team.