AJ Blubaugh has become Houston Astros’ do-everything bullpen weapon. ‘What he’s doing is incredible’

Veiled somewhat by his role and veteran colleagues is the value AJ Blubaugh has brought to the Houston Astros‘ bullpen in his rookie season. Other relievers eclipse him in wins above replacement, but none can rival the variety of the right-hander’s contributions.

Blubaugh, a converted starter, has helped buoy and preserve Houston‘s pitching staff by being an option at any time. He has entered at least one game this season in every inning from one through nine. He has worked multiple innings in 33 of 53 appearances.

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No major-league reliever has thrown more innings than Blubaugh, who has a 3.06 ERA in 85 ⅓ frames. That combination alone illustrates Blubaugh’s importance to an Astros bullpen that entered Wednesday with the sport’s fifth-lowest ERA since May 1.

At a critical point in the season, however, his position in it also appears to be evolving. In Blubaugh’s first 41 outings, he recorded four holds, defined as a reliever entering a save situation and maintaining a lead for the next reliever while getting at least one out.

In his 11 outings in August, Blubaugh recorded four holds. That included both his appearances during the Astros’ week in New York against the Yankees and Mets. He also logged a save last month and, in his first outing of September, entered a scoreless game in the eighth inning Wednesday against the White Sox.

“The moments are not getting too big for him anymore,” manager Joe Espada said after his team’s 2-0 win Wednesday night. “Obviously, I’m starting to give him the ball in big spots, because he’s earned the right to do that. He can pitch out of trouble, he can get punchouts.”

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Since allowing five runs at Coors Field in his fifth outing of the season, Blubaugh has a 2.22 ERA over his past 48 appearances. He has allowed one earned run in his past 18 innings while drawing higher-leverage situations for a Houston team in a postseason hunt.

The implications for its bullpen are enticing. Closer Josh Hader has been excellent since his return in June from the injured list, going 22-for-22 in save chances with a 0.72 ERA. Bryan Abreu has turned his season around to reassume a setup role alongside Steven Okert.

Adding Blubaugh to the late-innings mix could expand Espada’s options to close out games with a well-worked bullpen. Some caveats do exist. Blubaugh is still relatively new to that at the major-league level, and his multi-inning ability can be needed earlier in games. His workload also bears watching.

Blubaugh ended Wednesday with 10 ⅓ innings more than any other reliever in the majors this season. His 33 multi-inning appearances also lead the majors. He does not operate by finesse, either; his fastball has averaged 95.7 mph this season and touched 99.3 mph.

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“What’s funny, if no one told me I had a high workload, I wouldn’t know I had a high workload,” Blubaugh said Wednesday night. “I’m approaching every day as I’m trying to pitch, and whether I feel good or I feel bad doesn’t change anything.

“Whether I go in in the first inning or the eighth inning tonight, I’m still trying to put up a zero. So I wouldn’t say I feel any certain way. Tomorrow I’m going to show up the same way, I’m going to do my prep and I’m going to make myself available to throw.”

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After throwing two scoreless innings at Citi Field on Sunday, Blubaugh did not pitch the next two days. Wednesday, the Astros reached the eighth inning of a scoreless tie with the AL Central-leading White Sox, whose lineup featured seven left-handed or switch-hitters.

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None of their relievers save Kai-Wei Teng and Tatsuya Imai had pitched Tuesday. Okert and Abreu had each worked Sunday and Monday, however. Left-hander Bennett Sousa has struggled to get lefties out this year. Blubaugh came in holding lefties to a .550 OPS. He drew the eighth.

Tristan Peters met him with a leadoff triple, driving a fastball off the base of the wall in right-center at Daikin Park. Blubaugh walked Drew Romo, the Chicago ninth hitter, turning their lineup over. After the walk, he said, he resolved “to start pounding the zone and pray for good things to happen.”

One did. With the Astros infield in, Sam Antonacci bounced a first-pitch sweeper to shortstop Jeremy Peña. Peters hesitated before breaking for home plate. Peña threw him out.

“I thought the big play was that ground ball to Jeremy, Peters tried to kind of deke him and hesitated to go, potentially thinking (he’d) go for a double play,” Espada said. “So he was waiting to see what Jeremy was going to do, but Jeremy held his ground, made the right decision there.”

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Blubaugh agreed “you could feel (the inning) switch there.” But it wasn’t over. Munetaka Murakami hit a 2-2 sweeper to right-center. Romo, the catcher running at second base, was held at third. Miguel Vargas arrived with the bases loaded and one out. Blubaugh threw him two fastballs.

“Throw it as hard as I can, that’s really what it came down to,” Blubaugh said. “Empty the tank, give everything I have right here, get this out and then go from there. And it just happened to get in there and jam him a little bit.”

A 97 mph fastball on the plate induced a sharp grounder to third baseman Isaac Paredes, who started a double play. Nelson Velázquez’s two-out, bases-loaded single in the bottom of the inning gave Houston the lead. Hader preserved it, as the Astros stretched their AL West lead back to two games.

Espada credited Blubaugh with “staying composed, pitching and getting the job done.” The situation may have magnified it. But the result resembled much of Blubaugh’s season before it.

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“What he’s doing is incredible,” said starter Hayden Wesneski, who allowed one hit over seven scoreless innings Wednesday. “It’s so hard. I’ve been in that role and I didn’t do that. He fills a role of, like, whatever you need. And what he’s doing is incredible.”

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This article originally published at AJ Blubaugh has become Houston Astros’ do-everything bullpen weapon. ‘What he’s doing is incredible’.