Grew up in Santiago, DR, which is the second-largest city in the Dominican Republic...played amateur baseball as a light-hitting corner infielder and outfielder with a strong arm...did not hit enough to get a look by scouts so switched to pitching at the age of 18...worked on his pitching in the morning, and in the afternoon he worked at a car wash, to help support himself and his mother, Maria...Continued pitching in showcases and on the tryout circuit in the Dominican, where he was eventually seen at a workout by Astros scout Francis Mojica...Mojica attended the workout to get a look at the highly-touted prospect and eventual 2022 AL Rookie of the Year Julio Rodríguez, who shared the same trainer as Blanco...after seeing him throw, Mojica invited Blanco to the Astros academy and subsequently signed him at the age of 22 on April 27, 2016...Mojica, Oz Ocampo and Roman Ocumarez are all credited with his signing...Blanco joined a growing list of Astros pitchers who were signed at advanced ages out of Latin American countries...the Astros have also signed Framber Valdez (21 years old), Luis Garcia (20) and Cristian Javier (18) at ages that most teams would deem too old to sign...Was primarily a relief pitcher prior to the 2023 season, which all changed with the Astros hiring of GM Dana Brown...after observing another strong Spring Training performance in 2023, Brown identified Blanco as potential starter...he broke camp with the MLB team as a reliever, but was quickly optioned to Triple-A to get extended...returned to make seven starts with the Astros in 2023...Was informed by Joe Espada that he made the Astros Opening Day roster in 2024 as he was being taken out of the team’s preseason exhibition vs. the Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys on March 24, following a 10-strikeout performance...earlier that day his wife, Yanissa, gave birth to their second child, a daughter...Among the many in attendance for his no-hitter on April 1, 2024, was his mother, Maria...Shortly following the final out, Maria made her way onto the field at Daikin Park and shared a hug with Ronel...Ronel dedicated his no-hitter to his mother and the rest of his family...Has picked up one year and 101 days of MLB service over the last three seasons, using two of his three option years...is signed to a one-year contract for the 2025 season.
2024
Made a strong bid for an All-Star selection and Cy Young Award consideration in his first full season in the rotation, going 13-6 with a 2.80 ERA (52ER/167.1IP), a .190 opponent batting average and a 1.088 WHIP through 30 games (29 starts)...Among qualified AL starters, ranked first in opponent average, first in hits allowed per nine innings (6.13), tied for first in shutouts (one), second in ERA, sixth in WHIP and eighth in opponent OPS (.627)...the Astros went 20-9 in his starts on the season...Set career bests in nearly every category, most notably: games (30/29 starts), IP (167.1), wins (13), strikeouts (166), ERA (2.80), ERA+ (141) and WHIP (1.088)...Made 23 starts in which he allowed five or fewer hits, tied for third-most in the AL (with teammate RHP Hunter Brown)...had eight starts in which he didn’t allow an earned run...was one of 14 MLB pitchers to make at least eight starts without allowing an earned run in 2024...Owned an MLB-best 2.36 road ERA (min. 75 IP)...His 7-2 road record (.778 win pct.) was the second-best winning percentage on the road in the Majors behind CHC Shota Imanaga (8-1, .889)...Did not allow more than five hits through his first 14 starts of the season...excluding openers, marked the longest such streak in AL history (per STATS)...the streak ended on June 28 at NYM in his 15th start of the season (6 hits)...Was on his third consecutive (and career) Opening Day roster with Houston...Tossed the 17th no-hitter in Astros history in his season debut on April 1 vs. TOR, facing just two batters over the minimum...was the earliest no-hitter (by date) thrown in MLB history...was just the eighth start of his career, marking the 18th solo no-hitter thrown by a pitcher within the first eight starts of their career...was the 13th solo no-hitter in Astros history...Went on to win the AL Player of the Week Award following his no-hit effort...Followed his no-hitter with six scoreless innings on April 7 at TEX...recorded 44 outs to begin the season before surrendering his first hit, which is the most by any pitcher to begin a season since 1893 (when the mound moved to its current distance from home plate)...Had a scoreless streak of 15 innings to open the season, which was tied for the fourth-longest scoreless streak to open a season by a starter in Astros history with RHP Cristian Javier, who also did so in 2024...Tossed his fourth consecutive quality start to open the season on April 20 at WSH, becoming the first Astros starter to do so since RHP Gerrit Cole in 2019...Did not pick up his first losing decision until his 10th start of the season on May 31 vs. MIN...was the latest into a season that an Astros starter had recorded their first loss since RHP Charlie Morton in 2018 (first loss in 12th start)...Pitched seven no-hit innings before being removed from his start at 94 pitches on June 16 vs. DET...had retired the first 14 batters he faced before issuing a walk...became the second pitcher in Astros history to log two starts of 7.0+ no-hit innings in a single season, along with LHP Framber Valdez (2023 and 2024)...Matched his single-game career high with nine strikeouts on July 27 vs. LAD...went on to match that total once again on Sept. 21 vs. LAA...Made his lone relief appearance of the year on Sept. 7 vs. ARI, tossing two scoreless innings with five strikeouts...were the most strikeouts in a single relief appearance in his MLB career....Made his first career Postseason appearance in Game 1 of the ALWC vs. DET...hurled two innings of scoreless relief, allowing just one hit with three walks and four strikeouts...Was handed a 10-game suspension by MLB on May 15 following his ejection from the Astros’ game on May 14 vs. OAK due to a foreign substance being found on his glove.
2023
Finished the season going 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA (26ER/52IP) in 17 games, including seven starts, with the Astros...also recorded 52 strikeouts and a .251 opponent batting average...Made the Opening Day roster as a reliever (for the second straight season) and made nine appearances before an option to Triple A on May 6...at Triple A, he worked to get extended, before being recalled on June 1...Blanco’s transition to a starter can be credited to Astros GM Dana Brown, who identified him in Spring Training as a potential starter...Bounced between Triple-A and the Majors on five occasions in 2023...was with the Major League club from Opening Day thru May 6, June 1-July 2, July 6-8, Aug. 2 and Aug. 25-27...Made his first career Major League start on June 1 vs. LAA (2ER/5.1IP)...recorded his first career quality start on June 7 at TOR...allowed two runs on three hits and five strikeouts in six innings...Had his best start of the season on July 6 vs. SEA (3ER/6IP)...In the postseason, appeared on the Astros ALCS roster but did not make an appearance...At Triple A, went 7-4 with a 3.68 ERA, 81 K’s and a .188 opponent average in 15 games (13 starts)...Was named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Month for September...across four starts in the month, he went 3-0 with a 0.82 ERA, giving up two runs over 22.0 IP...struck out 27 batters and held opponents to a .111 average against, surrendering only eight hits and recording a 0.95 WHIP...His 0.82 ERA led the PCL in September, the only ERA among qualified pitchers under 2.00, and he also led the league in strikeouts, batting average against and WHIP, was tied for the league lead in wins and finished fifth in innings pitched...also won the PCL Pitcher of the Week Award for Sept. 18-24.
2022
Began his season as a non-roster invite at Major League Spring Training and impressed, making five scoreless appearances, while allowing just one hit with seven strikeouts...After Spring Training, made the Astros Opening Day roster...pitched in seven relief appearances with Houston, tossing 6.1 innings, while striking out seven...made his Major League debut on April 8 at LAA (1ER/1.2IP), closing out the Astros 13-6 win...Spent a month in Houston before being optioned to Triple A on May 1...finished his season at Sugar Land, where he made 44 apps., posting a 3.63 ERA (18ER/44.2IP) with 58 strikeouts in 44.2 innings...Like his 2021 offseason, returned to the Estrellas for Winter Ball in 2022, and did not allow an earned run in his Winter Ball season...went 4-0 with six saves and a 0.00 ERA (0ER/20.2IP) for the Estrellas.
2021
Was an NRI at Astros Spring Training for the first time in his career in 2021 and ultimately made two scoreless appearances for the Astros (2.1IP)... reassigned to minor league camp on March 17... spent his entire regular season at Triple-A Sugar Land, appearing in 42 games, while posting a 5-3 record, 22 saves and a 3.40 ERA (17ER/45IP)... struck out 57 in his 45.0 innings pitched...following the regular season, had a stellar stint with the Estrellas in the Dominican Winter League...made 17 scoreless appearances for the Estrellas, pitching 18.0 innings...tacked on another two scoreless appearances in the Dominican League postseason.
2020
Trained at the Astros Alternate Training Site in 2020 during the pandemic-shortened season.
2019
Appeared at three levels in the Astros system in 2019, going 5-2 with a 4.96 ERA (27ER/49IP) and 57 strikeouts in 32 games between Triple A Round Rock (19g), Double A Corpus Christi (9g) and Class A Short Season Tri-City (4g).
2018
Posted a 5-1 record and a 1.73 ERA in 19 games at Class A Advanced Buies Creek in 2018, before going 2-0 with a 7.08 ERA in his first stint at Double A.
