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The Houston Astros' pitching staff has easily been the biggest reason why the Astros have hung around as long as they have this season. The rotation has been legitimately great despite several losses and patchwork solutions and Josh Hader has once again become the best reliever in baseball. Unfortunately, it certainly seems like that vaunted staff is about to take yet another hit with the latest updated on what is going on with Ronel Blanco's elbow.
Through nine starts, Blanco has been pretty good with a 4.10 ERA, although he has fallen well short of his breakout 2024 performance. At least some of that regression seems to have been explained by the brutal news that Blanco had soreness in his elbow that needed further examination back in Houston.
Well, we got more news on Blanco's injury and it is not great. Not only is Blanco headed for the IL, but he is also going in search of a second opinion on his elbow which is almost never a great sign.
Ronel Blanco is going on the injured list and seeking a second opinion on his injured elbow, Joe Espada said. The first opinion showed “inflammation,” Espada said.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) May 22, 2025
Astros' Ronel Blanco headed to the IL as he seeks second opinion on ailing elbow
While the moment that Blanco's elbow soreness was bad enough to need doctors to get a closer look likely meant that an IL stint was inevitable, this is still brutal news. Blanco hasn't been as sharp as he was last season, but he is still a valuable source of innings that Houston will once again have to figure out how to cover.
More importantly, though, is that the result of that examination was questionable enough that Blanco feels the need to get it looked at by an outside source. One usually doesn't take that step if the diagnosis was just "inflammation" or that the player felt confident that the problem was completely addressed. It would be great if it was just elbow inflammation that went away after a couple weeks of rest, but you may want to bet on a longer layoff in Blanco's case.
As to where the Astros go from here, it is likely we are going to see a lot more of Colton Gordon and Brandon Walter in the near future. Lance McCullers Jr. is still a bit of a question mark and Houston was already trying to install a six-man rotation before Blanco got hurt. Now, the Astros' best laid plans have to go back to the drawing board.