Astros need to convert this reliever back to a starter to save pitching staff

He rose through the ranks of the Astros farm system as a starting pitcher, becoming one of their top prospects. However, at the Major League level, Houston has primarily worked him as a reliever.

After an impressive showing late last season, A.J. Blubaugh was going to be a member of the Astros staff this season, the only question was in what role. Houston has spent the last several years riddled with injuries to it's starting rotation. Adding the 25-year old Blubaugh to the back of the rotation seemed like a pretty good idea.

Instead, the Astros made him a multi-inning reliever while giving starts early on to Lance McCullers Jr. McCullers would be ineffective, injured, and later traded. Blubaugh wouldn't get a shot at the rotation.

With injuries to Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier, the ineffectiveness of Mike Burrows and Tatsuya Imai, and the struggles up on returning by Ronel Blanco, getting Blubaugh stretched out so he could go into the rotation always seemed to make sense. Well, except in the Astros front office apparently.

Houston has used 17 different starters this season, second-most in MLB. Still, Blubaugh never got the call.

Houston has given starts to Jason Alexander, Colton Gordon, Cody Bolton, and prospect Ethan Pecko made his debut. They have used openers in Bryan King & Bennett Sousa. They have used Miguel Ullola as a starter. They converted Kai-Wei Teng to a starter from the bullpen for a while.

Yet the Astros had in their pen a man who has been a starter in the minors and has put up solid numbers for them both this year and last.

Last season Blubaugh was important for the Astros down the stretch, and delivered a 3-1 record and 1.69 ERA over 11 appearances (including 3 starts). He has followed that up this year by leading the Majors in innings out of the bullpen. He is 5-2 this season with a 3.02 ERA in 54 appearances and 86.1 IP.

Blubaugh has the velocity and the stuff to be a high quality starting pitcher. For some reason, the Astros decided not to give him a chance this year to fill that role, while turning to as many poorer options as they could.

Earlier this week, manager Joe Espada said that Blubaugh was someone he could now trust in late game siutuations. It is a testament to how well Blubaugh has pitched to earn his manager's trust like that.

It's also a testament to how he is being used incorrectly.

For a team in dire straits when it comes to its starting rotation (currently Brown, Wes, and pray for the rest), getting Blubaugh stretched out enough to start seems like a simple and logical move. For a team with the 3rd highest starters ERA, it would have been a logical move. It simply never happened.

The team is now too far along to get Blubaugh stretched out now, but it should 100% be on their agenda this offseason.

Blubaugh can certainly be a back of the rotation starter for the Astros next season, with the upside to pitch like a front starter. The Astros should not miss this opportunity again.

Blubaugh needs to be, at an absolute minimum, given a legitimate shot to compete for a starting spot next season.

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