Astros, White Sox going with bullpen games in Game 1 of wild-card series

The Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros are both expected to use bullpen games in Game 1 of their American League Wild Card Series on Tuesday. AJ Blubaugh will start for Houston, per Astros beat reporter Brian McTaggart. Hagen Smith is opening for the White Sox, per their beat reporter Scott Merkin. Merkin and McTaggart both write for MLB.com.

In his first full season, Blubaugh has five wins and three losses, with a 3.66 earned run average, a 1.229 WHIP and 94 strikeouts in 96.0 innings. Blubaugh appeared in 64 games during the 2026 regular season, all in relief. As a rookie in 2025, Blubaugh made three starts in 11 appearances. 

Smith has three wins and three losses with a 1.29 ERA, a 0.964 WHIP and 41 strikeouts in 28 innings over 18 appearances. Tuesday will be the second time Smith is opening a game in 2026. Smith previously opened a game against Pittsburgh on September 10, going 2.0 innings, allowing two hits and no runs with two strikeouts.

The White Sox led MLB with 766.0 bullpen innings in 2026 and the Astros were sixth with 662.2 innings. The White Sox bullpen finished eighth in MLB with a 3.70 ERA, and the Astros relief pitchers finished 17th with a 4.08 ERA in 2026.