AJ Blubaugh has gone from useful depth arm to one of the Houston Astros’ most dependable bullpen options, and the way Joe Espada has used him lately says plenty about where his standing is now.
That trust showed up again on Friday, when Blubaugh entered with the Astros ahead 5-3. He allowed two baserunners, but he also punched out the other two hitters he faced before getting the hook. It was the third straight outing in which he did not allow an earned run.
The rise has been a steady one. Blubaugh entered the Astros system as a seventh-round pick out of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he worked mostly as a reliever for the Panthers. In Division I ball, he posted a 3.96 ERA, went 5-4, and collected 14 saves.
From 2022 through 2025, he climbed through Houston’s minor league ladder as the kind of pitcher clubs value even when the ERA doesn’t jump off the page. The best stretch of that run came in 2024 with Sugar Land, when he put up a 3.71 ERA in the high-scoring Pacific Coast League.
Houston gave him his major league shot in 2025, and Blubaugh made the most of it. In his first big league season, he logged a 1.69 ERA across 32.0 innings and struck out 35. Seven unearned runs crossed while he was on the mound, and his 4.42 FIP hinted that the run prevention came with a little help from the baseball gods.
This year, the 26-year-old has filled a very different kind of role. Early on, he was the guy who showed up when a starter got knocked out quickly, or when injury forced Houston to patch together the rest of a game.
Those were low-leverage innings, but he handled them well. He’s also been one of six Astros to stay on the active roster every game this season.
Blubaugh, who is from Mansfield, Ohio, has now worked multiple innings in 27 of his 43 appearances this season. He owns a 3.58 ERA with a 4.17 FIP, and the strikeouts have continued to pile up: 73 in 70.1 innings. FanGraphs Steamer projected a 23.3% strikeout rate, but he’s topped that with a 24.6% mark in 2026.
His biggest moment so far came on Aug. 2 against the Rangers, when he picked up the first save of his major league career. Blubaugh entered with two outs in the eighth, a four-run lead, and the tying run on deck. He finished the job by retiring all four batters he saw.
If this keeps going, Houston figures to keep pushing him into more important spots. Even when the leverage isn’t high, Blubaugh has still been giving the Astros something just as valuable: innings that keep the rest of the bullpen fresh. That’s how a pitcher who wasn’t a marquee prospect becomes one of the most trusted arms on the staff.
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