Ronel

Blanco

The Astros wanted to add an extra position player to their bench for Sunday’s regular season finale so Blanco heads back to Triple-A for the time being. He would likely return for the Wild Card Series if the Astros wind up besting the Rangers for the title in the American League West.

Blanco got the call to start Tuesday’s game against the White Sox and gave the Astros four scoreless innings. He scattered three hits and walked three batters while collecting three strikeouts before departing after four innings at 88 pitches. The-33-year-old right-hander ends the day with a 6.59 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, and a 23/15 K/BB ratio across 27 1/3 innings. He’ll likely revert to long relief duties if he sticks with Houston, with rosters expanded to 28 players.

Blanco draws the starting assignment for Tuesday’s game against the White Sox. The 33-year-old has struggled to an inflated 7.71 ERA across 23 1/3 innings in the majors this season. He’s not a recommended fantasy option in this spot.

The insinuation is that Blanco will be part of the September 1st roster expansion moves. The right-hander was optioned to Triple-A in the middle of August after posting a 7.71 ERA, 1.46 WHIP and a 20/12 K/BB ratio over 23 1/3 innings in his five appearances (four starts). Blanco starting on Tuesday means that Hayden Wesneski will now start on Wednesday and will not get a Sunday start this week against the Diamondbacks.

Blanco has really struggled during his time with the Astros this season, posting a 7.71 ERA, 1.46 WHIP and a 20/12 K/BB ratio over 23 1/3 innings in his five appearances (four starts). Miguel Ullola was recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land to take his place on the active roster.

Blanco departed with a 4-3 lead after Fernando Tatis Jr. homered with two outs and none on in the fifth. One more out would have gotten him a win, but manager A.J. Hinch just didn’t trust him to face Jake Cronenworth. Blanco has a 6.98 ERA after four starts, so he’s not promised much at this point. He’s in line to face the Giants on Wednesday, making him a streaming option in deep leagues.

Blanco gave up five hits, walked two and struck out four. The Astros had the lead in the fifth inning, but with Blanco making just his third start since returning from Tommy John surgery, he was pulled with two outs in the fourth inning after reaching 82 pitches. It might be some time before the organization lets Blanco throw enough pitches to work deep into games. He’s lined up to face the Padres on the road next Friday.

Blanco gave up four hits, walked three and struck out four. He fell to 0-1 with the loss. It was just Blanco’s second start since returning from Tommy John surgery, but he now has an 8.10 ERA. He could be worth using later this season, but fantasy managers would be wise to let him iron out the kinks first. Blanco is lined up to face the Rangers at home next weekend.

He allowed just two hits, but unfortunately, those were both two-run homers that followed walks. Blanco averaged 94.0 mph with his fastball, which is up a tad from 93.4 mph during his breakthrough 2024 and 93.2 mph in his nine starts prior to surgery last year. He doesn’t warrant an immediate pickup in shallow leagues after this, but it was a promising outing that suggests he might be of some use once he settles in. He’ll likely face the White Sox on the road on Sunday.

Blanco draws the starting assignment for Monday’s series opener against the Marlins at Daikin Park. It’ll be his season debut after missing the first four months working his way back from last year’s Tommy John surgery. It’ll be his first start back in the majors since last May. The 32-year-old has had moments of fantasy relevance at earlier points in his career, but he doesn’t offer a ton of strikeout upside, and is more of a wait-and-see option in deeper leagues.