Houston Astros Ace Had One of MLB's Most Surprising Seasons

The Houston Astros pitcher had a fast start to the season, and was able to maintain a solid level of play throughout in a very surprising season.

Sep 7, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Ronel Blanco (56) reacts after a strikeout to end the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the ninth inning at Minute Maid Park. / Erik Williams-Imagn Images

A Houston Astros player took the world by storm at the start of the year, then has quietly maintained his stellar pace throughout the season.

Jim Bowden of The Athletic put together a list of the players that he thought were the breakout stars of MLB this year and Astros ace Ronel Blanco found himself at No. 16 on the list.

Houston has a long history of finding these hidden gems with their international signings and Blanco is yet another success story for their scouting department.

The Dominican Republic native signed with the Astros back in 2016 and bided his time for quite a while as he learned how to pitch.

He was mostly worked out as a reliever, but made the switch to starter in his final season of Triple-A ball in 2023.

The righty was called up for his MLB debut last season where he split time between the starting rotation and bullpen. He posted a just ok 4.50 ERA over 52 innings of work and wasn't a part of the postseason bullpen.

He did make the Opening Day roster in 2024 and even got the nod to start early in the year thanks to the team dealing with some early injury troubles.

Blanco came out of the gates swinging in 2024 when he threw a no-hitter in his first game of the year against the Toronto Blue Jays. It was a great story, but most people viewed it as a bit of a fluke.

He's not a guy that has overpowering stuff. Surely players would adjust and be able to figure him out, right?

Well ,he continued the domination into his next start where he gave up just one hit in six innings against the heated rival Texas Rangers.

The newly-turned 31-year-old really continued to glide through lineups at an impressive rate. Over his first nine starts, his ERA was still sub-2.00. While it hasn't gotten back under 2.00 since then, it hasn't grown much.

Things got a little choppy in the middle of the year for him, but he's turned things up a notch yet again down the stretch.

He's posted a 1.46 ERA over his last five appearances, one of which included him finishing out a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In a year in which Houston found themselves battling historic pitcher injuries, Blanco has been able to serve as a steady hand through the chaos.