Houston Astros reliever Bryan King, a Colorado native, travels ‘serendipitous’ path to MLB

It was one year ago when Mike and Amy King were at their cabin in Fairplay and son Bryan made the unforgettable phone call.

Bryan, a graduate of Ponderosa High in Parker, was pitching for the Sugar Land (Texas) Space Cowboys at their 7,500-seat stadium.

Mom, I think you better get down to Houston, Bryan told Amy.

Bryan King, 27, hadnt pitched in days and had already sat out much of the 2022 season following elbow problems that led to Tommy John surgery.

Mom assumed the worst.

As it turns out, Bryan was headed for Houstons Minute Maid Park as a call-up of the big-league club.

King had been posting an earned run average with a 1 in front of it, and the Astros needed him to fill a mid-relief spot.

Now the Colorado native has spent a year with the Astros and shows a 2.97 ERA on the season.

He'll likely be on the mound during the Astros' three-game series against the Rockies at Coors Field, a full-circle moment for the Parker family.

The Astros boast a 6.5-game lead in the American League West with a pitching staff that's earned much of the credit.

Parents Mike and Amy said theyre accustomed to flying to remote parks to witness Bryan in action.

When Bryan was in the Chicago Cubs' farm system, they bought fares to Myrtle Beach (S.C.), South Bend (Ind.), Eugene (Ore.), as well as parks in Alabama and Tennessee.

Now they have seats for all three games at nearby Coors Field.

It all depends on how they use him, Mike King told The Denver Gazette.

"Bryan's evolved into the seventh-inning setup guy.

Theyll let the starter go a hundred pitches or so, and if theyre ahead by three (runs) or less, Bryan will come in in the seventh, then Bryan Abreu in the eighth and Josh Hader in the ninth.

Houston isnt posting big slugging percentages, but starters like right-hander Hunter Brown (1.74 ERA) and a powerful bullpen more than make up for it.

If (Bryan) hasnt pitched in three or four days, theyll bring him in just to get him some work, said Mike King, who speculated the chance of seeing his son pitch at Coors at 50-50.

Facing Shohei Ohtani Being parents to a big-league reliever is highly stressful.

That's doubly true when the Dodgers roll in for inter-league play and your son must face Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani.

That happened last July when King got the nod late in the game.

The Dodgers had two outs, and the Astros sought a lefty-vs-lefty matchup.

I jogged in and was checked on the mound by the umpire, who asked, How are you doing?" Bryan King told The Denver Gazette.

"I told him Id let him know after Id faced the best player in Major League Baseball." His dad had a similar take.

I was ready to throw up, said Mike King, who was watching on TV.

King dealt his standard four-seam fastball to Ohtani, who watched it go by for a strike.

That was followed by second and third strikes, sending Ohtani to the bench.

He never swung, King recalled.

They were playing 'God Bless America' when I walked to the dugout, and my legs were shaking.

He was told later Ohtani was waiting for a slider that never came.

Welcome to the big leagues, kid Two decades earlier the Kings were among the millions of parents watching their son play Little League.

Mike and Amy said they were always proud of Bryan but never imagined his baseball career would go this far.

That includes his high school career when Ponderosa's Mustangs saw plenty of losses.

He was good, Mike King said.

But no one watching him would have said, That kid is going to the majors.

Bryan's college prospects were limited; he wasn't heavily recruited and wasn't sure he could play college ball.

In retrospect, Im really glad of that, Mike King said.

"A lot of these kids get drafted at age 18, play six or seven years in the minors, then youre a freshman at 25.

Ive watched kids struggle, and it was a real blessing that wasnt an opportunity.

King pitched intermittently at McNeese State in Louisiana and graduated with a degree in conservation management.

A salmon fishing outfitter on Alaska's Kenai River offered him a guiding gig, something no one from his outdoors-loving family would turn down.

Fishing or pitching? Then the Cubs called.

Days away from a flight to Anchorage, King was alerted by a scout that he would be Chicagos 30th-round draft pick, if he would forget fishing.

The 2019 MLB draft sent King on a four-year trip between Double-A clubs that Mike and Amy remember for its lows as much as its highs.

Even if hes only in Double-A for a month, hes going to bump around on a bus and have a story to tell for the rest of his life, Mike said.

The financials were a downer, Amy said.

After inking a $1,000 signing bonus, at one point King was making $260 a week, but the club was charging his hotel room against it.

He was sharing rooms and sleeping on mattress pads all over the Midwest, she said.

Bryan recalled the low point, when the Cubs sent him down to Class-A Myrtle Beach, where he played against 18-year-olds.

But back in Tennessee he had what turned out to be a lucky break when he blew out his elbow and was forced into a months-long Tommy John rehab.

That triggered Rule 5, an annual draft that prevents teams from stockpiling young, unused players.

Turns out the Astros had been watching King and liked what they saw.

When the draft arrived, they picked him up.

It was one of many serendipitous things, Mike King said.

Houston is known as a place for talent that other teams dont capitalize on.

If he stayed with the Cubs Im convinced hed still be buried in the minors.

Bryan King said he loved playing for Sugar Land, the Astros' top affiliate.

His parents were hiking in the High Sierras, catching an occasional internet feed, when they realized their son was putting up a 1.86 ERA at some of the most hitter-friendly parks in the west.

When he started in Triple-A he was lights out, Mike recalls.

I thought, 'This is going to happen.' Astros manager Joe Espada has leaned on a bullpen that carries a 3.31 ERA, third-best in baseball.

Last Wednesday, King escaped a serious jam in the eighth inning to help deliver a 2-0 win over the Phillies, drawing Espada's praise.

I get excited when a pitcher gets in that spot, staying calm and pitching through it, (showing) you still have the ability to get out of it without getting up a run.

You have to punch people out," Espada said.

"He (King) was able to create (a) swing-and-miss.

Thats what youre supposed to do in those situations.

And he did.

As the Astros head to Coors Field, Amy King said she's "amazed" her son finds the poise to enter a tight game and throw well-placed fastballs in front of thousands of observers.

On the field I feel more comfortable, Bryan King said.

Ive practiced so much that just believing in the work and what weve been through, you let the body and mind do what theyre capable of.

If I were to give a speech to 20 people that would be harder for me..

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