Astros to promote top pitching prospect AJ Blubaugh
HOUSTON — The Houston Astros will promote pitching prospect AJ Blubaugh to make his major-league debut on Wednesday afternoon in a spot start against the Detroit Tigers.
Blubaugh boasts a 4.29 ERA across his first 21 Triple-A innings. He represented the Astros in the Futures Game last season. The 24-year-old right-hander finished with a 4.19 ERA in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
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The Athletic's Keith Law slotted Blubaugh sixth in his preseason ranking of Houston's prospects, higher than any pitcher in the Astros' system. Blubaugh participated in major-league spring training, but is not on the team's 40-man roster, so Houston will have to create a spot prior to Wednesday's game.
The Astros selected Blubaugh in the seventh round of the 2022 Draft from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. When Blubaugh throws his first pitch on Wednesday, he will become the school's first pitcher to ever reach the major leagues.
Blubaugh closed for almost all of his college career before converting into a starter upon his entrance into pro ball. Blubaugh can reach 97 mph with his four-seam fastball, but usually hovers around the low to mid-90s. Before the season, Law wrote that Blubaugh's 'probability of sticking in the rotation has gone up substantially since last offseason.'
How long he sticks in Houston's major-league rotation is a mystery. Blubaugh will start on Wednesday in place of Hayden Wesneski, whom Espada said 'needs a couple more days to recover from his last start.'
The velocity on all of Wesneski's pitches declined throughout that outing against the Kansas City Royals, though he still managed to throw five innings of two-run ball. Asked twice this week whether Wesneski is healthy, Espada said he is.
Espada did not answer definitively whether Wesneski could return to the Astros' rotation during this weekend's series against the Chicago White Sox, only saying 'I'm going to wait to make that call.'
'I just want to make sure he plays catch, recovers well and I'll make a decision on that,' Espada said.
If Wesneski is not ready to return in Chicago, the Astros could compensate by welcoming back a long-lost face.
Right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. will throw a bullpen session on Wednesday morning at Daikin Park and, if all goes well, Espada hinted he could make his next start at the major-league level.
McCullers has not started a major-league game since Game 3 of the 2022 World Series. He underwent flexor tendon surgery in 2023 and missed all of last season after encountering a slew of setbacks.
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