Ronel Blanco's Journey to the Major Leagues and 2024 Success

The Astros 2024 rotation has been completely beaten up while off the field, and has not performed very well on the field either.

Jose Urquidy, Cristian Javier, Lance McCullers Jr, Luis Garcia, Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez have all spent time on the IL this season, with Verlander and Javier even having multiple stints on the IL.

On the field, there have been many struggles as well. Javier, Framber, and Verlander have all regressed to about average. Hunter Brown has been very good recently but his stats are still recovering from a disastrous April and May. Spencer Arrighetti has had a few pretty good starts, but is still trying to find his footing in the majors. JP France and Blair Henley… The less said the better.

However, there has been one starter who has consistently performed well this year, along with being on the field for almost every start. Most interestingly, he came out of nowhere. He wasn’t a blockbuster trade acquisition like Verlander, or a former top prospect like Hunter Brown. He made the rotation on the final day of spring training.

This is the story of Ronel Blanco and his (so far) magical 2024 season. 

As of 6/23/2024, Ronel Blanco is sporting an 8-2 record, with a 2.34 ERA, and a 0.96 WHIP. This was a big surprise to many fans as previously mentioned.

In what had been a very good rotation in the previous years, headlined by future hall of famer Justin Verlander and multiple-time all-star Framber Valdez, Ronel Blanco, a 30-year-old with barely any major league experience stole the spotlight. Regression by many of the aforementioned starters, makes Blanco’s spectacular 2024 stick out like a sore thumb (in a positive way). 

Blanco’s story was an amazing and improbable one. Usually, prospects who are signed out of the Dominican Republic are teenagers. However, Blanco was already 22 when the Astros signed him. That’s because as a kid, Blanco actually started off playing corner infield positions and his lack of skill batting-wise turned off many scouts.

During this time Blanco would work at a car wash to make ends meet. According to BR Bullpen, he was eventually discovered thanks in large part due to the fact he was playing on the same field as now Mariners superstar, Julio Rodriguez. The Astros signed Blanco and he’d begin his professional baseball career. 

Blanco’s minor league career wasn’t too shabby. In 2016, he went 7-1 with a 2.40 ERA in twelve appearances (seven of them being starts).

His 2019 season where he ERA ballooned to 4.96 was an anomaly. Blanco was usually a reliable reliever for the Sugar Land Skeeters/Space Cowboys.

There were a few reasons Blanco never got any mainstream attention or consideration for the major leagues before 2022. For one, he was a lot older than most minor leaguers who were trying to make it to the big leagues. He didn’t make Triple-A until he was 26. Also, the Astros were stacked pitching-wise from 2017-2021. There were very few chances for him to make the major leagues.

Blanco would finally break through in 2022, making his major league debut. In seven appearances that season he’d give up five runs and be sent back down to Triple A. In 2023, he received a little more time in the majors and would improve slightly, going 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA in 7 starts and 17 appearances in total. While Blanco looked around average, nobody was prepared for what 2024 had in store for him. 

Blanco wasn’t even supposed to make the 2024 rotation. Justin Verlander opened the year on the IL opening up a rotation spot. It was mostly up in the air until Blanco shined in his final spring training start against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys. He pitched 4.1 IP giving up one run and striking out ten.

To make that even more impressive, Blanco had pitched through all the emotions of his second child being born. Despite as many improbable obstacles (and one blessing), Ronel Blanco became a starter for a major league roster. 

Ronel’s first start of the regular season was against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Astros had just been swept in a four-game series by the New York Yankees and desperately needed a win.

Not only did the offense show up, but Ronel Blanco threw a no-hitter in his first start of the season.

Blanco had walked the leadoff batter, retired 26 straight batters, then walked the next batter and retired the final one for the no-hitter.

Former Astro George Springer drew both walks. It was the earliest date a no-hitter had ever been thrown (April 1st) and Joe Espada’s first win as a manager. Blanco also went 5.2 Innings in his next start, before allowing the first hit of his season to famous Astros pest Adolis Garcia. 

His season would grind to a halt after being ejected against the Oakland Athletics on May 14th due to an umpire claiming he had a sticky substance.

Blanco claimed he had put rosin on his left arm and that it seeped into his glove and that he did not know it was illegal. He would serve his ten-game suspension and get right back to pitching well for the Astros. 

Here are his game logs so far:

4/1 vs TOR: 9.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7K (W: 1-0)

4/7 @ TEX: 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 4K (W: 2-0)

4/13 vs TEX: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5K 

4/20 @ WSN: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6K

4/27 @ COL: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8K (W: 3-0)

5/3 vs SEA: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6K 

5/9 @ NYY: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5K (W: 4-0)

5/14 vs OAK: 3.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4K

5/26 @ OAK: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6K (W: 5-0)

5/31 vs MIN: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 6K (L: 5-1)

6/5 vs STL: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2K (L: 5-2)

6/11 @ SFG: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8K (W: 6-2)

6/16 vs DET: 7.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 8K (W: 7-2)

6/22 vs BAL: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4K (W: 8-2)

Just by looking at this, it seems like Ronel Blanco enjoys being a dad more than any other major league pitcher. He threw a no-hitter in his first start after having a baby and threw seven no-hit innings on Father’s Day.

Also, the Astros are overall 11-3 in games he starts and are 27-37 in games he doesn’t start.

Even if he personally doesn’t get the win, he’s usually a good luck charm for the Astros.

In 2024, Ronel Blanco went from being almost completely unknown, to a potential All-Star.