Ronel De Jesus Blanco (born August 31, 1993) is a Dominican professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He signed with the Astros as an international

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2016, and made his MLB debut in 2022. He threw a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

against the Toronto Blue Jays in 2024.

Career

Blanco was a corner infielder and outfielder before he began pitching at the age of 18, and signed with the

as an international

on April 27, 2016, aged 22. He split the 2016 season between the

DSL Astros The Dominican Summer League Astros, or DSL Astros, is a minor league baseball team of the Dominican Summer League, and a Rookie-level affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Boca Chica, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. From 201 ...

and the

GCL Astros The Florida Complex League Astros are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Houston Astros, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to the 2021 season, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Astros. The team plays i ...

, going a combined 7–1 with a 2.13 ERA and 59 strikeouts over innings. Blanco split the 2017 season between the

Quad Cities River Bandits The Quad Cities River Bandits are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. Their home games are played at Modern Woodmen Park (formerly John O'Donnell Stadium) in Davenport, Iowa, one ...

and the

Buies Creek Astros The Fayetteville Woodpeckers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and play their home games at Segra Stadium. From 2017 to 201 ...

, going a combined 6–5 with a 3.38 ERA and 79 strikeouts over 88 innings. He split the 2018 season between Buies Creek and the

Corpus Christi Hooks The Corpus Christi Hooks are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Corpus Christi, Texas, and are named for the city's association with fishing. The team is owned by ...

, going a combined 7–1 with a 3.65 ERA and 71 strikeouts over innings. Blanco split the 2019 season between the

Tri-City ValleyCats The Tri-City ValleyCats (often shortened to Cats) are a professional independent baseball team based in Troy, New York. The Tri-City name refers to the three nearby cities of Albany, Schenectady, and Troy which make up New York State's Capital D ...

, Corpus Christi, and the

Round Rock Express The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home games at the Dell Diamond. The team is named ...

, going a combined 5–2 with a 4.96 ERA and 57 strikeouts over 49 innings. Blanco did not play in 2020 due to the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Blanco spent the 2021 season with the

Sugar Land Skeeters The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball club. They are located in Sugar Land, Texas, part of the Greater Houston metr ...

. On April 7,

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, the Astros selected Blanco's contract and placed him on the major league roster. On April 9, he made his major league debut in the eighth inning against the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

. On March 28,

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

, it was announced that Blanco had made the Astros'

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

roster for a second consecutive season. Blanco debuted as a starting pitcher in the major leagues on June 1, 2023, earning the win in a 5–2 final over the

Angels In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

after tossing innings with seven hits, three walks, two earned runs allowed and five strikeouts. Blanco threw the first

of the

2024 MLB season The 2024 Major League Baseball season (MLB) is scheduled to begin on March 20–21 with a two-game series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres held in Seoul, South Korea before the regular season proper runs from March 28 to S ...

on April 1 against the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

. The eighth start of his career, it was the seventeenth no-hitter in franchise history, and the tenth thrown by a Dominican pitcher. He was named the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

(AL) Player of the Week for the first time for the week ended April 6,

2024 Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1928 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ***''Steamboat Willie'', Walt Disney's fi ...

. In his next start on April 7, Blanco tossed another no-hit innings until a single hit by

Adolis García José Adolis García Arrieta, nicknamed "El Bombi", (born March 2, 1993) is a Cuban professional baseball outfielder for the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the St. Louis C ...

of the Texas Rangers ended consecutive no-hit innings. Blanco set an expansion-era record (since 1961) of 44 outs recorded to begin a season before allowing a hit. On May 14, during a game against the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

, Blanco was ejected due to a sticky substance found on his glove. The following day, he was suspended 10 games as a result of the ejection. In his first game back from suspension, he tossed 7 innings with only one run.

Personal life

Blanco is married to wife Yanissa. Their second child was born in March 2024.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanco, Ronel 1993 births Living people Baseball players from Santiago de los Caballeros Buies Creek Astros players Corpus Christi Hooks players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Dominican Summer League Astros players Estrellas Orientales players Gulf Coast Astros players Houston Astros players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Quad Cities River Bandits players Round Rock Express players Sugar Land Skeeters players Sugar Land Space Cowboys players Tri-City ValleyCats players

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links