HOUSTON -- Astros rookie Ryan Gusto was hours away from making his Major League debut on the final day of the 2024 season in Cleveland when Mother Nature dealt him a blow. The game wound up being rained out, meaning Gusto's debut would have to wait until this season. Dealing with setbacks on and off the field was nothing new for Gusto, so he shook off the disappointment and set his sights on 2025. Gusto, the Astros' No. 21-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, was optioned to the Minor Leagues after four starts this spring, only to find his way to his first Opening Day roster as a reliever. When Gusto finally takes the mound for his debut, it will be the culmination of an improbable rise from a kid who was cut from his high school team, walked on at a Florida junior college and dealt with personal loss and serious injury to make it to the Major Leagues. No one has chased the dream harder than Gusto. "He's proven so many people wrong, so I'll never be proven wrong by Ryan," said Ben Bizier, Gusto's former college coach. "I think the sky's the limit for him, and I think that with his mindset and his physical abilities, I think that he has a chance to be the best." |
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Gusto, a 6-foot-4 right-hander, was cut from his high school team in North Carolina multiple times before he finally earned a spot, though not without some skeptics. "The coach told me to my face I couldn't get outs against the worst team in our conference as a pitcher," Gusto said. Still, Gusto stood out in travel ball each summer and maintained belief he had talent. He and his dad, Marc Gusto, researched junior colleges in Florida and came across the bio of Bizier, who was at Broward College in Fort Lauderdale. He "pestered" Bizier on a recruiting app -- Gusto's words -- and came to Florida for a workout, committing on the spot. He was a two-way switch-hitting player who threw 84 mph. "I was not a shoo-in to be on that team the spring of my freshman year of college at all," Gusto said. "[Bizier] told me after the fact, 'Yeah, you were the last pitcher on the team that spring.' And I had good spring. My velo went up a little bit." Gusto's sister, Marissa Gusto, a senior at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, passed away suddenly in the fall of 2017. Ryan returned home for a week before heading back to Florida and immersing himself in baseball. "It's one the of the worst things you could go through," Gusto said. "It was a not a time I remember fondly. Really, I just kind of had that put your head down and grind-type mentality. It was kind of like what I did on the field when I'm in practice." |
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Gusto followed Bizier to Florida SouthWestern State College in Fort Myers in 2019 and eventually accepted a full scholarship to Western Kentucky, though he never went. His velo had reached 96 mph in his sophomore season and the Astros took him in the 11th round of the 2019 MLB Draft. The Astros offered Gusto a $125,000 signing bonus, but he had other ideas. He had been keeping track with pencil and paper of how much money the Astros had been spending from their bonus pool from the top 10 rounds. He told the Astros he wanted the remainder of their bonus pool money -- $421,699. "I knew exactly how much they could give me versus compared to what they were offering," Gusto said. "When they called and gave me an offer, I said, 'No, you can give me more,' and I don't think they liked that very much." The Astros obliged and signed Gusto for what he wanted. He got his feet wet in professional ball in '19 before the pandemic shut down the '20 season. Gusto tore his UCL later that year, costing him the '21 season after Tommy John surgery. He moved through Houston's system methodically and last year went 8-6 with a 3.70 ERA in 29 games (26 starts) at Triple-A Sugar Land -- putting him oh-so-close to reaching the big leagues. "I didn't lose belief that I would debut," Gusto, 26, said. "It did suck, to be quite frank with you. I trusted myself and the Astros alike that I would get back out there at some point. Just had to go back in the offseason and earn it." |
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MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
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Cam Smith became the 54th player in Astros history to record a hit in his first career plate appearance when he singled Thursday against the Mets. Who was the most recent player to do it before Smith?
A. Pedro León
B. Corey Julks C. Zach Dezenzo D. Shay Whitcomb |
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For the fifth consecutive season, the Astros have the most internationally born players on their Opening Day roster with a total of 16 (including players on the injured list), and they represent eight different nations. Here's a country-by-country breakdown of where the Astros were born: United States (19): Hayden Wesneski, Spencer Arrighetti, Hunter Brown, Ryan Gusto, Josh Hader, Bryan King, Steve Okert, Christian Walker, Chas McCormick, Jake Meyers, Zach Dezenzo, Brendan Rodgers, Cam Smith, Taylor Trammell, Shawn Dubon, Lance McCullers Jr., Kaleb Ort, Forrest Whitley, J.P. France
Dominican Republic (7): Bryan Abreu, Ronel Blanco, Framber Valdez, Rafael Montero, Yainer Diaz, Jeremy Peña, Cristian Javier
Venezuela (3): Luis Contreras, Jose Altuve, Luis Garcia
Cuba (2): Yordan Alvarez, Pedro León
Mexico (1): Isaac Paredes
South Africa (1): Tayler Scott
Puerto Rico (1): Victor Caratini
Honduras (1): Mauricio Dubón
A total of 265 players represented 18 different countries and territories outside of the 50 United States on 2025 Opening Day rosters and inactive lists. The 265 internationally born players slightly eclipsed the 2024 total of 264 for the fourth-most all-time on Opening Day rosters. |
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D. Whitcomb Whitcomb not only recorded a hit in his first career plate appearance, but finished with two knocks in his debut on Aug. 17, 2024, against the White Sox. |
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