Houston Astros Rising Star Needs Serious Cy Young Consideration
On Saturday, the Houston Astros had a major opportunity in front of them.
With a win, not only would they secure a series victory over one of the best teams in the American League and MLB as a whole, but it would get them to three games under .500 for the first time since March 30.
Despite having Framber Valdez and Justin Verlander on this roster --- the latter of whom is on the IL --- perhaps there is no other person the Astros would rather have on the mound for an occasion like this than their rising star Ronel Blanco.
Bursting onto the national scene with a no-hitter back on April 1, he entered this outing coming off another start where he threw seven no-hit innings before he was pulled from the game.
Blanco has been lights out, but with him facing teams who largely don't have a strong offensive profile, outside of the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins, Saturday's game was going to be his toughest test yet.
Not only did the 30-year-old rising star pass it with flying colors, he proved why he needs to start getting a lot more respect when it comes to the national conversation.
For a while, much of the chatter surrounding Blanco was about him being an All-Star.
It's time to forget that.
The conversation needs to shift to him being considered an American League Cy Young contender.
Blanco is second among starting pitchers in the AL with an ERA of 2.34, he has the fourth-best WHIP at 0.97 tied with four others, has allowed the fewest hits per nine innings at 5.099, has the third-most wins with eight, and aleady put up a signature moment with his no-hitter.
There are certainly other pitchers in the American League who are having great seasons like Tarik Skubal, Tanner Houck, Corbin Burnes, Garrett Crochet, and others, but to completely dismiss what Blanco is doing when leaving him out of the conversation right now is disrespectful.
Much of the reason behind that is because no one is sure how long this can be sustained.
After all, this is the first season he's been a full-time starter and he could completely fall apart in the second half of the year.
So far though, Blanco has shown no signs of doing that.
He was the better pitcher on Saturday when facing off against Burnes and the Baltimore Orioles. He gave his team an opportunity to win, something they took advantage of in a major way.
BRAD WAKAI
Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he did work at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad currently covers the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros for Sports Illustrated/FanNation. He is also the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continues to cover Penn State athletics. Brad is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, discussing topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai