Alan Joseph Blubaugh (born July 4, 2000) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2025.

Career

Amateur career

Blubaugh attended Clear Fork High School in

Bellville, Ohio Bellville is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in Richland County, Ohio, Richland County in the U.S. state of Ohio. It is part of the Mansfield, Ohio Mansfield metropolitan area, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,963 at the ...

, and played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

at the

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

. In 2022, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Orleans Firebirds The Orleans Firebirds, formerly the Orleans Cardinals, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Orleans, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Firebirds play ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

Professional career

Blubaugh was drafted by the

in the seventh round, with the 223rd overall selection, of the

2022 Major League Baseball draft The 2022 Major League Baseball draft took place on July 17–19, 2022, in Los Angeles. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was based on the reverse order of the 2021 MLB season standin ...

. Blubaugh spent his first professional season with the

Florida Complex League 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 it ...

and

Fayetteville Woodpeckers 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 ...

. He started 2023 with the

Asheville Tourists The Asheville Tourists are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. It is located in Asheville, North Carolina. Asheville teams have played under the Tourists moniker in different ...

before his promotion to 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 b ...

. After the season, Blubaugh pitched in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled ...

. On April 30, 2025, Blubaugh was selected to the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He made his Major League debut that day against the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

. Blubaugh experienced a rough outing where he pitched four innings, allowing five hits and two runs while walking a batter, and struck out six batters in his debut.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blubaugh, AJ 2000 births Living people Asheville Tourists players Baseball players from Ohio Corpus Christi Hooks players Fayetteville Woodpeckers players Florida Complex League Astros players Houston Astros players Major League Baseball pitchers Mesa Solar Sox players Milwaukee Panthers baseball players Orleans Firebirds players Sportspeople from Mansfield, Ohio Sugar Land Space Cowboys players