Houston Astros News

Home

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Sep 16, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher AJ Blubaugh (69) walks to the dugout before the game against the Texas Rangers at Daikin Park. Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Houston Astros Rookie AJ Blubaugh To Start Do-or-Die Game on Saturday

Originally posted on Houston Astros on SI
By Sean O'Leary | Last updated Sep 27, 2025 9:00 AM ET

The Houston Astros are on the brink of elimination from the postseason. It has not been since 2016 that the Astros missed the postseason, and they made it in nine of the last 10 seasons. They've already lost the division, as they let it slip to the Seattle Mariners for the first time since 2001.

They're going to need everything to go right for them. The Detroit Tigers are out of their control, and if Houston wants any shot at making the playoffs, they'll need Detroit to lose the next two games.

Not only do they need the Tigers to go 0-2, but they need the Cleveland Guardians to do the same. The Astros don't control their own destiny as far as the AL Central teams go, but what they desperately need to do is take the next two games from the Los Angeles Angels.

To do that, they'll send rookie AJ Blubaugh to the mound on Saturday, according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.

The Biggest Start of Blubaugh’s Young Career

Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

If the Astros have any hope at making the playoffs, they need to win both of their remaining games while either Cleveland and Detroit go 0-2, meaning their elimination game is down to one game.

Astros are on the brink of elimination after suffering a devastating 4-3 loss to the Angels in which they squandered a 3-0 lead. They could have gained a game on the Tigers and Guardians.

No more wiggle room. They need to go 2-0 and hope either Detroit or Cleveland goes 0-2.
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) September 27, 2025

It will come against the Los Angeles Angels, who won the first game on the back of future Hall of Famer, Mike Trout, who hit two homers in a 4-3 Astros loss on Friday night.

So, they'll send AJ Blubaugh to the mound.

Blubaugh, 24, was drafted in 2022 and quickly made his way to the majors this year. The right-hander had been splitting starting and relieving duties in his first two minor league seasons, before posting a 3.71 ERA and 9.3 K/9 over 25 starts in 2024.

He threw in only Triple-A before earning the call-up this season.

In 10 outings, Blubaugh has thrown 28 innings while striking out 10.6 per nine and posting a 1.93 ERA. He has done a fantastic job limiting base runners with a 0.821 WHIP. This will be his first real test, though.

He has only started two games so far this year, going four innings in his first and two in his second against the Texas Rangers. His longest outing in the majors was five innings of relief in August. Blubaugh has been brilliant in his brief outings this season.

He's getting a 31.9 chase rate as well as a 30.6 whiff rate this year. A lot of that is due to a devastating sweeper, which is generating whiffs 36.5 percent of the time, according to Baseball Savant.

Houston will ask Blubaugh to give them his best performance of the season in order to stay afloat, and they'll need him to give them length. He has only given them five innings one time, but the Astros might want more, especially given they used four relievers in Friday's game.

They clearly have the confidence in the young righty, otherwise they wouldn't put him in this situation. It will be all hands on deck for the Astros as they fight to keep their season alive on Satuday.