Four questionable decisions doom Astros in Wild Card round opener

It's hard to be successful when you are besieged by injury. It's much harder to be successful when you are besieged by injury and you don't make the best decisions for your franchise.

Please allow me to welcome you to the 2026 Houston Astros. Masters of both domains.

While there may not be a whole lot they can do about players suffering injuries, particularly some of the freak injuries the team suffered this season, they absolutely can do something about making sure the best possible players are in the best possible situation to succeed. We have a problem here.

Problem 1: Why are the Astros having a bullpen game for Game 1 of the ALWC Series after having a bullpen game the final day of the season, with an off day in between?

Well, it's really two main things: 1) the foolish decision to throw Peter Lambert on three day's rest ion the regular season finale and burn him for the ALWC series until Game 3 at a minimum. 2) the refusal to pitch Hunter Brown on three day's rest.

If the team wasn't willing to go with Brown on three day's rest for a postseason game, then under absolutely no circumstances should Houston have burned Lambert in the regular season finale. Ethan Pecko (who pitched 3 innings in that game) could have started. Miguel UIlola could have gone 2 instead of 1 inning. Tatsuya Imai (who finished the season with a 4.93 ERA, practically unthinkable in July) could have given you more bulk later in the game of a blowout win. Instead of six pitchers, they could have used 3, and saved Lambert.

Problem 2: Why were the Astros choosing AJ Blubaugh to start Game 1?

There are two reasons this was a bad idea. 1) Blubaugh started 0 games this season. Zero. While his pedigree is that of a starter, his usage this season was strictly in the bullpen. He led MLB in innings pitched out of the bullpen this season as well, but he had shown better production in single inning outings than in multiple inning outings. 2) Blubaugh has struggled badly in September.

He posted a 7.71 ERA in September, allowing runs in 6 of his final 10 appearances. He allowed 10 ER in September after allowing only 11 ER in June, July and August combined. It has been apparent Blubaugh was looking gassed. Starting him for the first time all year after he has been struggling so much, and in a playoff game to boot, made no sense.

Blubaugh got 2 outs before being removed in the first inning, surrendering 3 walks to the six batters he faced.

Problem 3: Why are the Astros going to Bryan King is any kind of leverage situation? In fact, why are the Astros going to Bryan King in any situation that isn't a blowout one way or another? In fact, why is Bryan King on the roster?

It's a complex problem. Bryan King had established himself as a leverage reliever for Astros since coming up in 2024. He was enjoying his finest season when he entered the game against the Texas Rangers on July 10. That was the day his season (and career) took a hard turn for the worse.

King allowed 4 ER in one inning that night in Arlington, allowing 2 HR. He had allowed only 1 HR in 40 IP to that point. He would then give up homers in each of his next three appearances as well. King posted a 9.31 ERA for the month of July. Clearly the Astros hoped it was just a rough patch. It wasn't. It was the start of a trend.

King posted a 12.79 ERA in August, and an 8.22 ERA in September. In his final appearance in the season finale, he threw one shutout inning but also allowed 2 hits and a walk. He was fortunate to escape. In 9 September appearances, he allowed 9 runs (7 ER) in 7.2 IP. Twice he made appearances without recording an out. King didn't deserve to be on the playoff roster, let alone come into a game in the 1st inning with the game very much in peril at that point.

To King's credit, he entered a bases loaded, 2 out scenario and slammed the door. The Astros only trailed 1-0. Joe Espada then chose to have him go back out for the 2nd inning. Luck ran out. King faced 5 batter sin the 2nd, allowing 4 hits and a hit a batter. He was lifted allowing 2 runs to make the score 3-0 Chicago, and he left the bases loaded with no out. Miguel Ullola came in to shut the door with no further damage.

Now, you may be asking who could have replaced King on the roster, and the answer is Roddery Munoz. The Rule 5 pick from this season who struggled so badly at the very start of the season righted himself at Triple-A this season, and finished 4-5 with 12 saves for Sugar Land. He posted a 3.06 ERA in the PCL, known as a very hitter friendly league. In 53 innings, he allowed on 39 hits, just 3 HR, and he struck out an incredible 76 batters (nearly 13K/9). What is the point of pitching so well in the minors if a guy who has been terrible for 3 months is always going to stay ahead of you on the depth chart?

Playoff roster spots need to be earned. Bryan King has only earned a bus ticket to "Non-Tender Station".

Now, the Astros have gone opener - King in previous games this season. It was scripted that way. Opener - king - bulk guy. Miguel Ullola was scheduled to be the bulk guy. This brings us to the next problem:

Problem 4: If Miguel Ullola was capable of being a three inning bulk guy, why couldn't he have started the game?

This one is a real head scratcher. There are legitimate cases neither King nor Blubaugh should even be on the roster as bad as they were down the stretch (the argument is much stronger for King). However, if Ullola could go three innings then why couldn't he have started? They burned two guys who have been awful for a month minimum and could have gone right to a guy who allowed 1 run and 3 hits in 10.2 IP in September (0.84 ERA). Again, there is no logic in these decisions.

These four decisions ultimately shaped the first two innings of the game and resulted in the team being down 3-0 before the Astros came to bat a second time. These are unacceptable decisions in a best of 3 playoff series. They wound up putting Houston behind the 8 ball early in a home playoff game that actually deserved a sense of urgency.

Now Houston's season is on the line in Game 2 this afternoon.

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