DETROIT — A.J. Blubaugh will make a boyhood baseball dream come true Wednesday afternoon.
The 2019 Clear Fork High School graduate was promoted to the Major Leagues on Tuesday and is scheduled to make his first start at home for the Houston Astros against Detroit.
The first pitch is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. EDT.
Drafted by the Astros in 2022, Blubaugh has spent the last four-plus seasons honing his craft.
He was 2-2 with a 3.86 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 21 innings this season for the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, Houston’s Class AAA team.
The Horizon League reliever of the year in 2021 and 2022 at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Blubaugh became a starter after the Astros drafted him in the seventh round.
He performed well in Double-A and the Arizona Fall League to cap his first full pro season and won All-Star accolades and a championship in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in his second.
A year ago, the 6-foot-3 Blubaugh led the PCL with 12 victories and strikeout rate (24 percent) while ranking second in ERA (3.83) and fourth in strikeouts (128 in 124 2/3 innings).
According to the Astros’ website, “Blubaugh operates with a 92-95 mph fastball that tops out at 97 and comes out of a high arm slot with armside run and carry that keeps it off barrels. His most effective secondary pitch is a low-80s changeup with fade and depth. Houston has helped him develop a sweeping low-80s slider that elicits chases but gets pounded when he leaves it over the plate, and he also has an upper-70 curveball with similar issues and a mid-80s cutter.”
