Houston Astros Ronel Blanco Facing Suspension From MLB

Houston Astros starting pitcher Ronel Blanco burst onto the scene in the 2024 MLB season. In his first start of the campaign, he fired off a no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays in a 10-0 victory.

That dominant start has proven to not be a fluke to this point. Ronel Blanco has been excellent for the Astros, as he has recorded a 2.09 ERA in his eight starts this season. He had pitched into the sixth inning of every start until his most recent one on Tuesday against the Oakland Athletics.

Blando looked well on his way to continuing that streak until a fourth-inning equipment check by the umpires. Just as they have been doing for the last few years, he was checked for a foreign substance and something was found on his glove.

Before throwing a pitch in the fourth inning, Ronel Blanco was ejected by crew chief and home plate umpire Laz Diaz. Diaz and his crew, Blanco and Houston Astros manager Joe Espada stood at the mound for several minutes before a decision was made to eject the pitcher.

First base umpire Erich Bacchus took the glove and brought it somewhere off the field, as Diaz revealed it would be sent to the commissioner’s office. Bacchus had checked Blando in the middle of the first inning and there was nothing on the glove at that time, but in the fourth inning, a strong sticky substance was detected.

“I felt something inside the glove,” Bacchus said. “It was the stickiest stuff I’ve felt on a glove since we’ve been doing this for a few years now.”

Ronel Blanco denied using a foreign substance, as he surmised it was likely rosin that got sticky from sweat and moisture throughout the game.

“Just probably rosin I put on my left arm,” he said in Spanish through an interpreter. “Maybe because of the sweat it got into the glove and that’s maybe what they found.”

Espada did admit that he saw what looked like white powder inside his pitcher’s glove. But, having rosin on your non-throwing hand is illegal, so there wasn’t much protest to the ejection.

“It looked to me when I grabbed the glove [that] there was some rosin,” Espada said. “You’re not allowed to use rosin on your non-pitching hand, and that’s what it looked like to me. It was a little bit sticky with the moisture and the sweat, but that’s what it looked like to me.”

Because of the infraction, Ronel Blanco is likely going to face discipline from the league in the form of a suspension. This crackdown began in 2021 and a 10-game suspension is likely what he is facing.

That is a tough blow for the Houston Astros, as Ronel Blanco has been their ace thus far this season. Being without him for two turns through the rotation will be tough to overcome for a team already struggling this season, going 17-25 thus far.