Astros set to make very questionable decision regarding one of their best pitchers

Eric Cole

Kansas City Royals v Houston Astros / Tim Warner/GettyImages

Of all the developments for the Houston Astros in 2024, the emergence of Ronel Blanco has been among the most pleasant. Through 26 starts this season, Blanco has posted a 3.03 ERA while striking out 144 batters in 148.1 innings, including throwing a no-hitter back in April. Given the number of injuries that have afflicted the Astros' rotation this season, including losing Cristian Javier and Jose Urquidy in rapid succession to arm injuries, Blanco's breakout has been a godsend.

Despite his savior status, it sure sounds like the Astros are about to make a change that directly impacts Blanco's playing time going forward. While the team has been utilizing a six-man rotation for a little while now since Justin Verlander returned from the injured list, that doesn't seem to be a throwing program they are going to stick with down the stretch and Blanco could be headed for the bullpen very soon.

Astros GM Dana Brown told the team's pregame radio show that Ronel Blanco is the most likely candidate to go to the bullpen when Houston goes back to a five-man rotation in the coming days.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) September 1, 2024

Astros' Ronel Blanco seems destined for unpopular move to the bullpen, but the reasoning isn't all bad

On the surface, this move seems to be objectively terrible. Blanco has been one of Houston's most reliable starters all season long, and pushing him to the bullpen to accommodate Verlander, who sports a 6.75 ERA since he returned, feels very questionable. However, there is a little more going on here than just trying to force playing time for a vet who is making a ton of money.

Yes, Verlander has sucked. However, Blanco has already far exceeded any previous pitching workload than he's ever posted prior to this season. If he was still absolutely shoving, perhaps the decision calculus would be a bit different. Unfortunately, Blanco's 4.35 ERA and increased walk rate suggests that he is starting to feel the fatigue from what is his first time serving as a full-time starter in the big leagues. We saw the same thing happen to Hunter Brown just last season.

Ultimately, the important thing at this point, given Houston's near lock status atop the AL West, is getting everyone to the end of the season healthy. Managing Blanco's workload now and getting Verlander back on a regular schedule (and possibly facilitating an extra start from their supposed ace) could pay massive dividends down the road.

Now, if Verlander continues to struggle and Blanco gets passed up as a starter in the postseason anyway, that may be cause to get genuinely upset.

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Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.