Marcus High School alum shines for Astros

Watching Ryan Pressly on the Major League Baseball stage, it might surprise some people to know he lived and finished school around here.

The 34-year-old Houston Astros’ right-hander resided in Highland Village from sixth grade through high school and graduated from Marcus High School in 2007. Ever since, he has played professionally, first in the Boston Red Sox organization, then for the Minnesota Twins and since 2018, for the Astros.

Never forgetting his roots, Pressly and his wife, Kat, just finished remodeling a home they have owned in Flower Mound for about 18 months after he previously spent offseasons in Argyle. They also have a ranch 90 minutes west of Fort Worth plus a home in the Houston area where they plan to remain for a few years before likely moving back to North Texas.

“I grew up in this area. It’s pretty much home,” he said before the July 1 game against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. He and his wife, a former actor and Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, have two children – son Wyatt, 2; and daughter Hunter, 1.

“After the (2022) World Series it was kind of hard to get up here with the kids, so we just decided to stay in Houston,” he said.

Pressly attended the long defunct American Heritage Academy in Carrollton through his junior year of high school. In addition to baseball, he was a football defensive back, however, knee surgery ended his football career. When he learned American Heritage might drop its baseball program, he transferred to Marcus for his senior year.

“It was a great group of guys,” he recalled of his time at Marcus. “I still talk to some of them to this day. Some of my best friends went to Marcus. I grew up in Highland Village and even though I didn’t go to Marcus they were going to Briarhill (Middle School) and Marcus. I just grew up with all these guys.”

While he considered walking on at Texas Tech University, he decided to turn pro when he was drafted and offered a $100,000 bonus by the Boston Red Sox. Initially, he was a starting pitcher before converting to a reliever in 2012.

Before the 2013 season, the Twins picked him up and promoted him to the major league roster. After turning in a scoreless debut on April 4, he finished that year with a 3-3 record and 3.87 earned run average in 49 games, mostly in middle relief and as a set up pitcher.

He split time between Minnesota and the minor league Rochester (Minnesota) Red Wings in 2014. He was primarily in the majors in 2015 and pitched in 72 games for the Twins in 2016, recording his first save on July 31 against the Chicago White Sox.

Pressly remained with the Twins until July 27, 2018, when he was traded to the Astros whose analytics department told him to spin his pitches more. That tip paid immediate dividends with a 0.77 ERA, only three walks the rest of the year and the start of major league record 40 consecutive games without allowing a run that carried into 2019.

Fully aware of that success, the Astros named him the team’s closer in 2021 and he has remained in that role ever since securing 26 saves in 2021 and 33 last year. At one point in 2022, he retired 32 consecutive batters.

On June 25, 2022, he closed out a combined no-hitter and repeated the feat in Game 4 of the World Series in October. He closed out five of the six World Series games allowing just two hits, one walk, and no earned runs and saved the deciding Game 6 against the Philadelphia Phillies.

“There’s a lot of things I’ve done in my career that are memorable to me,” he said. “My first win in (Boston’s) Fenway (Park) was pretty special because I had just been selected by the Twins from the Red Sox. Obviously winning the World Series in Houston, being a Texas kid and doing it for a Texas team was pretty special. And my wife is from Houston. We have a lot of family and friends down there. Doing that in front of everyone who is really close is special.”

Also special was his participating in this year’s World Baseball Classic where he saved three games to help the U.S. earn a silver medal.

“I was a little leery at first with the World Series and how long it went and the quick ramp up,” he said. “But my trainers and coming to the field every day during the offseason was nice. Everything was real easy. I had a fun time. I met a lot of new people I had always played against and admired from afar. Sitting right across the aisle from Mike Trout was pretty special.

“When you get to meet all these guys you see on TV all the time and see how good they are and how normal they are, I really enjoyed it. To put USA across your chest is even better. You always dream of winning a World Series, but you also dream of playing for your country too.”

This year, he went until May 29 without blowing a save, a streak of 28 straight appearances over two years. He recorded 20 saves by this year’s All-Star break and hopes to help the Astros to another World Series title.