Ronel Blanco

Ronel De Jesus Blanco

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 6' 0", Weight 180 lb.

Debut April 8, 2022

Born August 31, 1993 in Santiago, Santiago D.R.

Biographical Information[edit]

Pitcher Ronel Blanco was signed by the Houston Astros as an international amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic on April 27, 2016. He was already 22 years old - very old for a Dominican player as they are typically signed as teenagers. Some of this was due to the fact that he was a position player as a youth, but his weak bat prevented him from being signed at the time. He worked out as a pitcher on his own, doing so while holding a job in a car wash to support his family, until he was finally noticed by scouts - in large part because he was working out alongside uber-prospect Julio Rodríguez. He started pitching in Houston's minor league organization in 2016, splitting time between the DSL Astros Blue and the GCL Astros, going 7-1, 2.13 in 14 games. He reached AA during the 2018 season, with the Corpus Christi Hooks of the Texas League and AAA in 2019 with the Round Rock Express of the Pacific Coast League, but an injury that year coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic set him back by a couple of seasons.

He had a very good year for the Astros' new AAA affiliate, the Sugar Land Skeeters, in 2021, going 5-3, 3.40 in 42 games with 22 saves and 57 strikeouts in 45 innings. However, the Astros were loaded with pitching at the time and he did not receive the call to the Show. It came at the start of the 2022 season, and he ended up pitching 7 times at the major league level, with no record and an ERA of 7.11 in 7 games. Most of his season was spent back with Sugar Land, with the team now called the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, and he was 4-7, 3.63 in 44 games, with 5 saves. In 2023, 2 of his first 4 appearances with Sugar Land were as a starting pitcher, his first starts since 2017 not counting a rehabilitation assignment in the New York-Penn League in 2019. He was dominant in those four games, going 2-0, 0.56 and earning a return ticket to Houston. After pitching out of the bullpen his first 9 appearances, he made his first major league start on June 1st against the Los Angeles Angels, pitching in during a stretch of 17 games in as many days. He limited the Angels to 2 runs in 5 1/3 innings to pick up his first major league win, 5-2. Overall, he went 2-1, 4.50 in 17 games, including 7 starts, logging 52 innings. He did not appear in the postseason.

He won the fifth starter job in spring training in 2024 due to injuries to Justin Verlander and José Urquidy and made his first appearance of the season on April 1st a memorable one. After the Astros had been swept at home by the New York Yankees in a four-game series, he was delegated to face the Toronto Blue Jays and pitched the best game of his career - a nine-inning no-hitter in which he walked two and struck out six. In fact, he walked the first batter of the game, George Springer, then retired the next 26 batters in order before walking Springer again with two outs in the 9th. He then got Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to ground out to second to end the game. He received great offensive support from his teammates, who hit five homers, as the final score was 10-0. The game represented a number of firsts, including the first complete game and shutout of his career, the first career win for new manager Joe Espada, and the earliest no-hitter in major league history by calendar date. He had never pitched more than six innings in his previous seven career starts. In his second start on April 7th against the Texas Rangers, he continued to baffle opponents, not allowing a hit until there were two outs in the 6th, when Adolis Garcia hit a single to center. He left after six scoreless innings and with a 3-0 lead. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Blanco's streak of 44 outs without allowing a hit was the longest to begin a season since the mound was moved to its current distance in 1893. While he did not flirt with a no-hitter every time he took the mound, he continued to be one of the few bright sports for a badly underperforming Astros team, as after 8 starts, his record stood at 4-0, 2.09. On May 14th, he was ejected from a start against the Oakland Athletics after three innings when umpires found a sticky substance in his glove during a routine check; this resulted in a ten-game suspension consistent with precedents. He acknowledged that he had put rosin on his left forearm, and that it had seeped into his glove, not knowing that the original act of having rosin on his body was a contravention of the rules. There was more evidence that his early-season success was not a freakish occurrence when on June 16th, he once again flirted with a second no-hitter, tossing seven hitless innings against the Detroit Tigers before giving way to reliever Ryan Pressly, who gave up Detroit's first hit in the 8th. He had run up his pitch count when he walked the bases loaded in the 5th, but had managed to escape that jam without allowing a run, although it prevented him from pitching beyond the 7th inning. He was credited with Houston's 4-1 win to improve his record to 7-2 as he continued to be the Astros' best starting pitcher and a legitimate candidate for the All-Star Game.

Notable Achievements[edit]

AL Shutouts Leader (2024)

Related Sites[edit]

Ronel Blanco on mlb.com

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Ronel Blanco

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