AJ BlubaughHOU · RP

2026 review

AJ Blubaugh was a swing reliever for HOU whose results beat his underlying contact quality, though he handled left-handed hitters much better than right-handed ones this year. Over 64 games he posted a 3.66 ERA and 1.23 WHIP in 96.0 IP, with a 23.4 K% and 10.5 BB% over 401 BF, 5 W, 3 L, 1 SV and 12 HLD. Drafted at NFBC ADP rank 1204, he finished 437th of 1472 in the TDK LABS 5x5 value rank, 767 spots above, and 129th of 575 relief pitchers. His 3.66 ERA ran 0.61 below his 4.27 xERA over 401 BF. Against left-handed batters he held them to a .183/.268/.355 line over 214 PA, while right-handed batters hit .259/.344/.438 over 187 PA against him. He posted a 0.56 ERA in 16.0 IP in Aug, his best month, and a 7.71 ERA in 11.2 IP in Sep, his worst. The TDK LABS card tracked a shifting role through the second half: middle relief depth in Houston by late Aug, a middle-innings arm holding down a leverage spot in an unsettled bullpen by mid-Sep, and by late Sep a swing arm seeing little save or hold work in that same bullpen.