For Houston Astros’ Ronel Blanco, a ‘very special’ – and effective – start in return to rotation

Four hundred twenty-eight days elapsed between major-league outings for Ronel Blanco, the burly right-hander who went from insurance to invaluable for the Houston Astros‘ rotation in 2024. Elbow surgery interrupted his encore and forced a pitcher who had waited years for a real opportunity to wait again.

“A lot of wishing that I was out there to be with the team,” Blanco said Monday, through an interpreter, of his recovery from the surgery that repaired his ulnar collateral ligament and flexor tendon. “So every day, I would wake up with that same focus and that drive to be able to come back and help the team.”

A pitching-challenged club awaited his return, as well. Astros officials have touted Blanco, and perhaps Hayden Wesneski, as reinforcement for a rotation that entered Monday with the majors’ third-highest ERA. Ineffectiveness and injuries within the group are magnifying what impact the two might provide.

What can be expected initially after a 14-month layoff is a question, yet the Astros are not positioned for patience. Blanco took the ball Monday following a sweep by the Orioles that left Houston seven games under .500 with two weeks to the trade deadline, a 12-game stretch on which its season could pivot.

If the Astros are buyers at the deadline, how Blanco fares early in his return could have some bearing on their priorities. Reliability in the rotation is arguably their biggest need, regardless, but one that could be satisfied internally. Regaining a version of Blanco that resembles anything like his 2024 form would help.

Monday offered glimpses of it. Blanco navigated 4 ⅔ innings against the Marlins, allowing four runs on two two-run homers, the only two hits he allowed. A six-run outburst by his offense let him operate with a lead after the second inning and propelled the Astros to an 8-5 win that snapped a four-game skid.

“I’m very happy for Ronel,” said Yordan Alvarez, who hit his 32nd and 33rd home runs of the season in the win, through an interpreter. “You never know what can happen after a surgery like that, so it feels really good to be able to see him go out there and pitch in a major-league ballgame.”

ASTROS 8, MARLINS 5

a-singled for Mack in the 7th. b-popped out for Pauley in the 7th. c-grounded out for Wade in the 7th.

LOB_Miami 8, Houston 4. 3B_Paredes (1). HR_Mack (8), off Blanco; Hicks (14), off Blanco; Peña (7), off Junk; Alvarez (32), off Junk; Alvarez (33), off Bachar. RBIs_Mack 2 (26), Hicks 2 (60), Hernández (37), Trammell (12), Peña 4 (26), Alvarez 2 (75), Altuve (29). SB_Smith (10).

Runners left in scoring position_Miami 3 (Hicks, Hernández, Jiménez); Houston 1 (Spence). RISP_Miami 1 for 7; Houston 3 for 5.

GIDP_Altuve.

DP_Miami 1 (Pauley, Edwards, Stowers).

Inherited runners-scored_De Los Santos 1-0.

ABS Challenge_Altuve (Strike-Confirmed); Hernández (Strike-Confirmed); Bachar (Ball-Confirmed); Stowers (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Walker (Strike-Overturned to Ball).

Umpires_Home, D.J. Reyburn; First, Sean Barber; Second, John Libka; Third, James Hoye.

T_2:49. A_23,684 (41,000).

Two swings marred other elements of Blanco’s outing. His fastball averaged 94 mph, compared to a 93.2 mph average in nine starts last season pre-surgery. Blanco threw first-pitch strikes to 16 of 19 batters and recorded 18 whiffs and eight strikeouts against a Miami team with the majors’ 11th-lowest strikeout rate.

“That’s the Blanco that we know,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “He’s throwing strikes, he’s attacking a pretty good lineup. And that’s what we’re asking from our starters. Go attack, give us a chance, give our bullpen an opportunity to pick you up and close games out.”

The Marlins lacked Otto Lopez, the majors’ leader in batting average, due to an inflamed finger Monday. But they started seven left-handed or switch-hitters against Blanco, who countered with changeups and curveballs and handed a two-run lead to four relievers who allowed one run over 4 ⅓ innings.

“From my view at shortstop, his pitches looked sharp,” said Jeremy Peña, whose grand slam keyed a six-run second. “He’s such a hard worker, he’s worked so hard to get to this position to where he can go out there and try to help us, and he did exactly that tonight.”

Blanco started his outing with 11 consecutive strikes. Nine comprised his first inning. He struck out four of his first five hitters before Jakob Marsee worked a nine-pitch walk with two outs in the second, an at-bat in which neither catcher Yainer Diaz nor Blanco challenged a third strike that was not called.

Joe Mack worked an 0-2 count full and blasted a fastball 409 feet into the right-field seats. Blanco threw 29 pitches in the inning, a labor that shortened his night. He had thrown 68 pitches in his last Triple-A rehab start. Espada acknowledged pregame that the Astros would “keep a close eye” on his pitch count.

After their six-run inning, Blanco worked a nine-pitch shutdown third. His second walk, leading off the fourth, also preceded a home run. Blanco hung a two-strike curveball that Liam Hicks drove 393 feet. Blanco retired his next five batters before a two-out walk in the fifth inning ended his night.

“I failed on a couple of pitches, but I feel like overall I felt very good with the quality of the pitches, and I’ll take that a positive,” Blanco said.

An offense that entered with baseball’s seventh-lowest chase rate swung out of the zone against Blanco at a 47% clip. He induced 14 whiffs on 27 swings against his changeup and curveball. Eight balls put into play against him did average a 94.8 mph exit velocity, with five above the 95 mph hard-hit threshold.

“They do a nice job in the middle of their lineup, they’ll take pitches, they’re zone controllers and kind of drove his pitch count up,” Espada said. “The two homers, he left those pitches kind of in the heart of the plate. But for the most part that was a really good outing. He looked pretty sharp, he looked strong.”

Building upon it is now Blanco’s task. His next outing should offer a more typical pitch count. The weight of his return to a major-league mound, and the recovery process that preceded it, are behind him.

“It was very emotional, a lot of adrenaline at first,” Blanco said. “I’ve been wanting to be out there for a while. So it was very special.”

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This article originally published at For Houston Astros’ Ronel Blanco, a ‘very special’ – and effective – start in return to rotation.