HOUSTON – Ronel Blanco awoke on Monday anonymous, another big right-hander blending into the Houston Astros’ heralded pitching pipeline. He worked at a car wash in the Dominican Republic before receiving a $5,000 signing bonus from an organization that cornered the market on inexpensive improbabilities.
Blanco did not pitch until he turned 18. Houston signed him at age 22, ancient among the teenagers that headline international signing classes. If not for general manager Dana Brown persuading his pitching coaches to try Blanco as a starter, he might still be stowed in a minor-league bullpen. He has wowed in Dominican winter ball and taken the shuttle back and forth to Triple-A Sugar Land, all while blocked in the big leagues by the same stories he attempted to author.
“He and the whole group, they’ve met expectations but surpassed expectations beyond what we could have imagined,” Oz Ocampo said late Monday night.
Ocampo oversaw the Astros’ international scouting department at its most affordable peak. Framber Valdez signed for $10,000 under Ocampo’s watch. Cristian Javier, too. Both have blossomed into bona fide big leaguers. Blanco got half of their bonus, but can now etch his name alongside them in Astros’ lore.
In his eighth major-league start, one few expected him to make entering spring training, Blanco threw the 17th no-hitter in Astros history. He tamed the Toronto Blue Jays during a 10-0 win at Minute Maid Park on Monday night, introducing himself to an entire sport while authoring a new chapter in Houston’s cost-effective excellence.
Valdez, Javier and Blanco have started the franchise’s last four no-hitters. Javier started two of them, including the first six innings during Game 4 of the 2022 World Series. Bryan Abreu, who signed for $40,000 during Ocampo’s tenure, took over for Javier in the seventh.
“Pretty incredible,” said Ocampo, who started to receive text messages from the other scouts involved in those signings while Blanco bullied a respectable Blue Jays lineup. He watched the final outs on MLB Network.
“I certainly didn’t anticipate this,” said Ocampo, now an assistant general manager for the Miami Marlins. “He’s surpassed, I think, all our expectations because of the work ethic, because of how much he competes, and how much he cares and how consistent he’s been every single year.”
Blanco had never thrown more than six innings in a major-league game and had never crossed the 100-pitch threshold. Pitching coach Josh Miller said the team intended to keep him around 90 pitches on Monday. Blanco exited the eighth with 91. He threw 14 more in the ninth to secure one of the most unexpected pieces of pitching history in this franchise’s existence.
“It was special for me, personally,” said manager Joe Espada, who became the first skipper in major-league history to win his first career game with a no-hitter. “Getting it in that fashion, for a guy that has grinded through the minor leagues and seeing how hard he worked to perform against a really good lineup, it brings everything to another level of emotion.”
Blanco stood slim chances of making this team out of spring training. If not for injuries to Justin Verlander and José Urquidy, Blanco may be in the minor leagues or a member of Houston’s bullpen. He did not officially claim a rotation spot until his final exhibition start of the spring — the same day he and his wife, Yanissa, welcomed a baby girl. Blanco still reported to the ballpark that afternoon to make his start.
“I see it as a life changing experience,” Blanco said through an interpreter. “I dedicate this to my family and my daughter.”
Uncertainty even surrounded when Blanco would pitch. Both he and fellow starter J.P. France were expecting babies at the same time. The team penciled France in to start Sunday against the New York Yankees and Blanco for Monday, but were ready to reverse the assignments if France’s wife, Jessica, went into…
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