I realize this is a realistic and legitimate option as well as one they may be considering, but it is also a perfect example of what I hope does not happen. Hopeful opening day rotation: Brown, Javier, Burrows, Arrighetti, Weiss, McCullers. 1st injury: Blubaugh 2nd injury: Alexander 3rd injury: Gordon 4th injury: Ullola 5th injury: Pecko without question, I prefer adding a #2 and sliding everyone else down a spot, but if that pitcher isn't projected to be better than everyone but Brown, let him go somewhere else and give the spot to the next guy in line (unless its JV who would be ok because of other factors)
Skeens, Brown, Valdez, Burrows, Verlander, by selling Alvarez and emptying the farm system. Crane sells team.
I read Urquidys deal fell through with Arizona. Hes a free agent again. I gotta think he could be had on a really cheap deal. Any interest there?
If he fails as a starter, sure? They don’t normally “groom” 7th inning guys… especially not teams that don’t have enough viable starting pitching as is.
Blubaugh is curretly on the outside looking in when it comes to making the starting rotation. If Dana wants the best MLB roster then Blubaugh should be in the pen IMHO.
The Astros have 5 RP who were extremely effective last season in Hader, Abreu, King, Okert, and Sousa. It’s not reasonable to expect Blubaugh to be better than any of those guys. Houston likely needs to keep a 6th SP on hand who can throw 3+ innings in a given appearance (that is if they don’t just use a full 6 man rotation). So that leaves 2 spots. They have Nate Pearson, Enyel De Los Santos, Roddery Munoz, and Kaleb Ort all with guaranteed contracts and without options, and that assumes Ryan Weiss and Lance McCullers are in the rotation. It’s hard to see Blubaugh being such a surefire effective RP to make if worth risking 2 of those guys to waivers and not have Blubaugh stretched out in AAA for when a SP gets hurt. So while I do think Blubaugh is probabiy one of the 13 best pitchers on the 40 man roster, if he can’t show he’s clearly a playoff caliber SP, his best role is as a 6th/7th SP in AAA.
If this is true and I'mot saying it isn't true, why is Dana still looking to add to the bullpen? I've got a feeling that Blubaugh can be an avg/slightly above avg SP, but a very good relief pitcher.
Hader and Abreu were both starters in the Minors. So were Wagner and Lidge. So is pretty much every pitcher with a great arm and good stuff.
Aside from Brown, nobody on this team should be locks for the opening day rotation. Given his contract and history, Javier will be, but that still leaves 3/5 of the rotation up for grabs by a whole bunch of unproven players. See how camp goes, anybody they think can be a good starter should be a starter until they prove they can't be. "Worst" case scenario we have too many viable starters and we go 6 man or use some piggyback long relief outings. Too many quality starters is an issue that sorts itself out 99.9% of the time over 162 games.
It has been reported that the Astros do not have confidence that Blubaugh can face a lineup multiple times consistently. Couple that with the facts that most of the rotation options do not project to pitch deep into games and the bullpen has a distinct lack of pitchers with options available and I see him in relief in 2026.
IIRC Hader, Sousa and Ort finished the last season on IL. Whether they are ready to go when ST breaks is an open question. Both Sousa and Ort had injured elbows so there is a nonzero chance that a TJ surgery is in their future. The fact that Dana Brown has been looking for bullpen arms this offseason might indicate that the Astros might be concerned about these bullpen injuries.
You can also guarantee that outside of your "horses" (Hader/Abreu), about 3 of your "good" middle relievers will massively underperform compared to the prior season.
I don’t see any way Houston would have held on to Ort past the non tender deadline if they had any concerns about his health. I just looked and Fangraphs is now showing Sousa with an option year left. That’s big if true as it opens up the possibility of stashing him in the minors.
