May 22: General manager Dana Brown appeared on Sports Talk 790’s Sean Salisbury Show this morning and did not give an immediate update but said the team would provide more information later today (presumably, when meeting with the entire Houston beat). Brown noted that the team has hoping for the best, but the suggestion of a formal announcement at a scheduled time does little to quell concerns about an already ominous injury scenario.
Unsurprisingly, manager Joe Espada said that Blanco will be placed on the injured list, per Leah Vann of Chron.com. Blanco will be getting a second opinion about his elbow. Espada added that Gordon will be recalled as the corresponding move, per Vann.
May 21: The Astros are in Tampa but right-hander Ronel Blanco isn’t with them. Manager Joe Espada tells Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle that the righty reported elbow soreness two days ago and flew back to Houston to be evaluated.
At this point, there’s not too much information to go on. Blanco started on Saturday and threw 92 pitches over six innings against the Rangers. His fastball velocity held fairly steady compared to his previous start but has been trending down in recent weeks. His fastball velo crept up over his first five starts of the season, topping out at 94.3 miles per hour on April 22nd. But it dropped to 93.5 mph in the start after that, then 93.4, 93.0 and 92.8 mph in his most recent outings.
There are many things that could explain such a trend and the current testing will surely provide more information. Until there’s more clarity, it’s too soon for a full-blown panic, but it’s a worrisome situation. It’s always a bit alarming when a pitcher’s throwing elbow is injured, of course. For the Astros, it’s especially notable, given their larger rotation picture.
Cristian Javier, Luis Garcia and J.P. France are all on the 60-day injured list, recovering from major surgeries in previous seasons. Just three days ago, it was reported that Hayden Wesneski would require Tommy John surgery. He has already joined those other three hurlers on the 60-day IL. Houston also has Spencer Arrighetti on the 15-day IL, as he fractured a thumb in early April.
Around those injuries, they are down to a rotation core of Blanco, Framber Valdez, Hunter Brown and Lance McCullers Jr. McCullers only just returned from his own lengthy injury layoff, making three starts so far this month, his first big league action since 2022. The Astros have recently turned to Ryan Gusto, Colton Gordon and Brandon Walter to make spot starts as they are trying to trudge through a 17-game stretch with no off days.
If Blanco needs to miss some time, that would further subtract from a group that already feels thin. The righty has emerged as a key piece of the rotation in recent years. He logged 167 1/3 innings last season with a 2.80 earned run average. His 10.1% walk rate was a bit high but he struck out 24.6% of batters faced.
There was a bit of luck in that thanks to a .220 batting average on balls in play and 83.6% strand rate, which is why his 4.15 FIP and 4.17 SIERA were a bit skeptical of that ERA. This year, his ERA has indeed normalized to 4.10, even with his strikeout and walk rates holding fairly steady. Even if Blanco’s true talent is an ERA just above 4.00, that’s a decent starter and not one a club wants to lose, especially when they are already so snakebit.
The Astros still have five more games until their next day off. Brown is going today. Per Kawahara, the Astros plan to have McCullers, Gusto and Valdez take the next three with Sunday’s starter to be determined. It seems fair to assume Blanco won’t be an option for that Sunday game.
Gordon and Walter were both just optioned to the minors in recent days. An optional assignment for a pitcher comes with a 15-day minimum unless they are being recalled as the corresponding move for a pitcher going on the IL. AJ Blubaugh is also on the 40-man and is pitching in Triple-A. Jason Alexander was just claimed off waivers from the Athletics three days ago and he could factor in. Guys like Tyler Ivey and Miguel Ullola are also pitching in Triple-A but not on the 40-man.
Beyond this weekend, the Astros will perhaps have to come up with a long-term rotation plan that doesn’t involve Blanco. Valdez and Brown give them a strong one-two punch but there would be plenty of uncertainty beyond that. McCullers is still a wild card after missing two full seasons and the Astros may need to cobble together something for two rotation spots behind him.
Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images
Tomoyuki Sugano and Zach Eflin are probably available…
Elias should probably start listening in on offers for them, and focus on 2026. Sugano is having a nice season, any competing team should be kicking the tires on him.
Completely agree, no sense prolonging the inevitable and risking trade candidates getting hurt, plus it opens more roster spots for young guys like Mayo, Basallo, Beavers, Bradfield, etc. to come up and take their lumps and adjust big league competition for 2026.
*should be available…
But front office decisions are impacted by their fans perception that the team is waving the white flag too early.
Any time a team can improve by trading personnel they should.
The Orioles should be trading away multiple players this month, including Mullins, Soto and Dominguez.
See ya Summer 2026.
Time for the Astros to reevaluate either their pitching department or training staff. This amount of injuries and extended time it takes them to get back is not normal.
So far, so good. Walter very effective last night. Replacement starters have held up pretty well, but it’s getting pretty dicey.
When is he going for the second opinion???
Astros last two or three seasons are not looking good.
Espada no manager
Dana no GM
Hitting coaches no good
Pitching coach questionable
Training medical staff not great.
Change needs to happen.
Rotation is only 2 pitchers of Framber and Brown. McCullers is just rehabbing. He will not get up to speed. That takes time after 3 years off. We had Tucker last season with the fracture in his knee and Yordan another injury. His hand not healing as they thought.
Espada has been fine and average. Dana is clearly Crane’s puppet or hamstrung by Crane’s previous decisions. I think he slayed the Tucker trade and Caratini was a great find. Development doesn’t seem to have slowed under his watch and his drafts look solid so far. Until a week ago our hitting has consistently been above average but it’s hard to ignore the consistent underperformance to expectations generally. I don’t know how in the world you could question the pitching coaching. We find rando’s every year that play above anybody’s expectations. The re-injuries are undeniably more common in Houston than elsewhere even if TJ surgery is exploding across the sport. The disclosure piece raises serious questions. Changes do need to happen but not sweeping changes and until Crane gives Brown more freedom it’s hard to know anything for certain.
Houston is looking vulnerable. Maybe it’s finally time for another team to win the AL West. For once in a blue moon.
Mariners should pounce on this and go for it.
TJ see ya in 2027
astros have pitching epidemic
Wtf is happening in houston???
Every team does. Sometimes teams get a year respite and they are “surprisingly good,” then it kicks in again. And a bunch pitch with more minor injuries, explaining how bad they suddenly are. Basically all of baseball is just a russian roulette with some teams able to hedge with an avalanche of money.
in the last 2 years, javier garcia urquidy mccullers blanco all have gone down with TJ/elbow surgery. thats not roulette. thats the entire rotation. the entire starting staff.
“houston we have a problem”
a MAJOR problem
Shows you might be able to cheat the system but you can’t cheat Doctor Beats
Is it coming for their ace, Hunter?
Espada is not a manager. He needs to go. IF not now at the END OF THE SEASON. He is not manager material. No Hinch/Dusty or others.
Hitting coaches need to be choice of new manager. Same with pitching coach
Medical/Training staff needs to be changed up too