Through May 14, the Houston Astros’ bullpen was the worst in baseball. A 5.86 ERA. A rotation in crisis. A team that looked, on many nights, like it was playing out the string.
Since May 15, the same bullpen has posted the lowest ERA in the American League. The Astros have gone 25-17 in that span. They are in a pennant race.
The transformation did not happen by accident, and it did not happen because of one person—though Josh Hader’s return from the injured list on June 3 was the catalyst. With Hader anchoring the ninth, the rest of the bullpen settled into defined roles. Bryan King and Steven Okert have been reliable on the left side. AJ Blubaugh has emerged as something more than anyone expected.
Blubaugh came into 2026 as a fringe prospect, a starting pitcher converted to relief. He has become one of the most-used and most effective relievers in baseball this season, working multiple innings in the kind of high-leverage situations that expose lesser arms. He has been nearly untouchable over his last month of work, and he just turned 26 years old on Saturday with five years of team control remaining.
Blubaugh’s breakout has solved one problem while creating another.
According to multiple reports, Blubaugh has drawn trade interest as general manager Dana Brown surveys a deadline market in search of a left-handed-hitting outfielder, a right-handed reliever, and possibly a starting pitcher. With one of the sport’s thinnest farm systems, the Astros may have little choice but to move controllable, performing talent if they want to address those needs. Blubaugh fits that description uncomfortably well.
The irony is that the bullpen’s success has created the very leverage that makes dealing from it thinkable. Cristian Javier is expected to join the bullpen upon activation from the injured list. Miguel Ullola has made two impressive appearances in his debut. Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski are working back from Tommy John surgery with second-half return targets. Alimber Santa is at Triple-A and has shown the ability to work multiple innings. The unit Brown would be selling from is not the same one that bottomed out in April.
Still, trading Blubaugh would mean gambling that the depth holds—and that the replacements can replicate what he has done in the most important moments of the season. That is not a given.
The Astros are in the thick of the AL West race with the deadline on August 3. Brown has decisions to make, and the bullpen that kept this team alive long enough to matter is at the center of all of them.
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