Sunday Notes: Astros Reliever AJ Blubaugh Used To Throw a Submarine Knuckleball
AJ Blubaugh has given a boost to the Astros bullpen since debuting in late April of last season. Over 29 big-league appearances (including three as a starter), the 25-year-old right-hander has logged a 3.22 ERA over 58-and-two-thirds innings while being credited with five wins, against three losses, and three saves. Drafted in the seventh round by Houston out of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2022, he ranked third among the system’s prospects with a 45 FV when he reached The Show.
His backstory is atypical, in part because of a pitch he hasn’t thrown since his days as an Ohio prep. Moreover, the Mansfield native now has a delivery that is both conventional and consistent. That wasn’t always the case.
“When I was in high school and started to get into pitching, I threw from three different slots,” Blubaugh explained. “An over-the-top arm slot, a sidearm arm slot, and a submarine arm slot. I would differentiate that every single pitch. One pitch would be a curveball from over the top, then I’d drop to sidearm and throw a slider. Then I’d throw a fastball from submarine. I was just a funky junk-ball thrower. I threw a knuckleball a bunch, probably from the time I was 10 years old to the time I graduated. It was probably my main pitch.”
Remarkably, his butterfly wasn’t simply delivered from down under; it came from each of his arm angles.
“I would throw it from all three slots,” the righty told me. “When I would throw it from over the top, it would kind of shake and then drop. When I would throw from sidearm, it would shake and stay true, stay pretty straight. When I threw from submarine, it would shake and almost rise. It’s weird that I would do that, but also kind of cool that I could make the ball do those things. Like I said, I was a junk-ball thrower.”
Until he wasn’t. Blubaugh’s heater began flirting with 90 mph in summer ball following his junior year, attracting the attention of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. One year later, a transformation occurred. He was still throwing from multiple arm slots when he arrived at college, but then came a meeting with his coaches. Believing that Blubaugh could be “really good over the top,” they asked him to trade in cool and funky for what might be called “boring but effective.” Another velocity gain ensued. Training diligently, with a lot of hard work in the weight room, Blubaugh saw his velo climb to 95-96 by the winter of 2021.
And then there is what went unseen. Not only did Blubaugh stop delivering pitches from multiple arm angles, the unpredictable offering that sent Hoyt Wilhelm and Phil Niekro to the Hall of Fame was given a pink slip.
“It’s strictly for catch play now,” said Blubaugh, who last threw a knuckleball in a game during his high school years. “I just kind of mess around with it, because it wouldn’t really work with my arsenal. I’d love to say that it does, but I wouldn’t be able to throw it max effort and have the feel to know where it was going to go. The knuckleball is definitely a pitch you have to practice a lot. I wouldn’t want to say it’s impossible that I would ever throw it again, but as of right now, it’s in my back pocket.”
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Jason Heyward went 16 for 42 against Stephen Strasburg.
Jason Giambi went 23 for 37 against Darren Oliver.
Eddie Collins went 23 for 43 against Jack Warhop.
Dave Collins went 20 for 43 against Charlie Hough.
Joe Collins went 15 for 32 against Ellis Kinder.
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Connor Seabold was a somewhat surprising inclusion on the Detroit Tigers’ Opening Day roster. Signed three days earlier after being released by the Toronto Blue Jays, the 30-year-old right-hander had just 119 big-league innings under his belt, those coming with four teams across parts of four seasons. His won-loss record was 1-11, while his ERA was a no-better 7.79. Even so, he’d had a good spring, and his right arm has always shown promise.
The Tabbies weren’t the only team that showed interest when he became available.
“There were a few,” Seabold told me late April, shortly before he landed on the IL with an ankle issue. “With two or three teams it was like, ‘We might have a spot on the big-league roster, or it might be the minor leagues; we’re not sure yet.’ The Tigers came up with a split deal to be on the big-league roster on Opening Day, and they’ve been in the playoffs the last couple of years, so it was a tough thing to turn down.”
When I’d chatted with him informally in mid-March, Seabold said he had an opt-out clause in the minor-league deal he’d signed with the Jays in January. That played a big part in his becoming a Tiger.
“I tried to force their hand a little bit — me making the roster for Opening Day after having a good spring — and they had other plans,” Seabold explained. “At the end of the day, I’m thankful that it worked out the way that it did. But yeah, you can never predict where you’re going to be.”
Seabold came out of the Detroit bullpen eight times before going on the shelf, allowing five runs over 11 frames and being credited with a win. Reinstated to the roster on Friday after a brief rehab stint, he tossed a one-two-three eighth inning in yesterday’s 3-2 Tigers’ loss to Toronto in 10 innings.
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A quiz:
Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa chased MLB’s single-season home run record in 1998, the former finishing with 70, the latter with 66. Two other batters, one in each league, finished with 50 or more home runs that year. Who were they?
The answer can be found below.
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NEWS NOTES
Texas Rangers announced on Friday that infielder Josh Smith was diagnosed with viral meningitis and will be in the hospital for up to 10 days. Expected to recover. Smith reportedly could be back in action as soon as next month.
The full schedule is now out for this year’s national SABR Convention, which will be held in Cleveland from July 29-August 2. It can be found here.
Dick Hughes, a right-hander who appeared in 68 games for the St. Louis Cardinals across the 1966-1968 seasons, died on May 6 at age 88. A rotator cuff injury ruined what might have been a long and prosperous career. The Stephens, Arkansas native went 16-6 with a 2.67 ERA in 1967 — his first full season — only to finish 20-9 with a 2.78 ERA over just 307 innings.
Rick Kreuger, a left-hander who appeared in 11 games for the Boston Red Sox across the 1975-1977 seasons, and in six games for the Cleveland Indians in 1978, died on May 7 at age 77. A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Kreuger was on the winning end of four decisions, and had a 4.47 ERA over 44-and-a-third innings. He finished his playing career with the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants, counting the legendary Sadaharu Oh as one of his teammates.
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The answer to the quiz is Ken Griffey Jr., who led the junior circuit with 56 round-trippers, and Greg Vaughn, who finished third in the senior circuit with 50.
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Putting together Wednesday’s Yandy Díaz feature prompted what almost became a quiz question. Given its degree of difficulty — would anyone outside of obsessive Rays fans get it? — I will instead present it in answer form.
Carl Crawford (.296) and Yandy Díaz (.292) have the highest batting averages in Tampa Bay Rays franchise history among hitters with at least 3,000 plate appearances with the team. Which player has the highest batting average among those with at least 1,000 plate appearances with the team? (A hint: he batted an even .300 in his Tampa Bay tenure.)
The answer is Harold Ramírez. “Hitting Harold” logged his .300 average over 1,038 PAs with the Rays from 2022-2024.
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The worst individual pitch — the single bullet he would most like to have back — that Jesús Luzardo has thrown so far this season?
“A 2-0 fastball to Esteury Ruiz, in Miami (on May 3),” the Philadelphia Phillies southpaw told me. “Bottom of the seventh, one out, middle down. He hit it like 400 feet. I was behind in the count to a dead-red fastball guy and threw a four-seam fastball basically down the middle. It was a command thing. I probably should have commanded it a little better, maybe used a different part of the plate. But I needed to throw a strike, and I got bit on it. It happens.”
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FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Seven new members were voted into the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame earlier this week. Among them were four former MLB players: Erubiel Durazo, Rodrigo Lopez, Miguel Ojeda, and Mike Paul.
Justin Turner is slashing .333/.449/.587 with three home runs in 78 plate appearances for the Mexican League’s Toros de Tijuana. The 41-year-old veteran of 17 MLB seasons counts several former big-leaguers among his current teammates, including Greg Allen, Franchy Cordero, Wilmer Flores, and Junior Lake.
Jae Hyun Park is slashing .316/.368/.526 with seven home runs and a 139 wRC+ in 147 plate appearances for the KBO’s Kia Tigers. The 19-year-old outfielder was taken 25th overall in last year’s draft out of Incheon High School.
Kosei Shoji is 4-3 with a 2.93 ERA and a 2.01 FIP over 46 innings for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. The 25-year-old right-hander’s 29.4% strikeout rate is third-best in NPB.
John Gant is 2-1 with a 1.82 ERA over 29-and-two-thirds innings for the CBPL’s Wei Chuan Dragons. The 33-year-old former MLB hurler signed with the Taipei, Taiwan-based ball club this past winter.
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Last Sunday’s column led with Kai-Wei Teng, whom his Houston Astros teammate Spencer Arrighetti described as having “an insanely good” sweeper that “takes a 90-degree left turn.” Not included in the piece was what Teng told me about the common properties of that pitch in his homeland.
“I noticed that most of the pitchers in Taiwan actually had more of a drop slider, a vertical break slider, rather than a sweepier one,” said the 27-year-old native of Taichung. “But there was one pitcher, C.C. Lee, who used it in MLB and is now back in Taiwan. His slider is a lot more like a sweeper, with a lot of horizontal break.”
Lee appeared in 47 games for the Cleveland Indians from 2013-2015, logging a 4.50 ERA over 34 innings. The 39-year-old righty is currently playing for the CPBL’s CTBC Brothers.
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Left on the cutting-room floor from my spring training conversation with Trey Yesavage is what he said about the work that goes into being a pitcher at the professional level.
“Everything that fans see is on the field,” the Toronto Blue Jays right-hander told me. “What goes on behind the scenes is what gets me, as a starting pitcher, to show up every five days. That would be hitting the weights hard twice a week and being in the training room for an hour every day, just getting the body ready. I’m training more efficiently now than I did in college. I’m not throwing every seven days anymore, so the turnarounds are quicker. You have to get the work in, in a shorter amount of time.”
It was during his time at East Carolina University that he realized he had what it takes to one day stand atop a big-league mound.
“It was always a dream of mine, but I never really thought it would come to fruition,” Yesavage said. “But then, in my sophomore year of college, I became a starter. I kind of flourished from there, so I’d say that’s probably when I thought it would happen.”
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FARM NOTES
Jonah Cox is slashing .420/.468/.696 with four home runs and a 199 wRC+ in 129 plate appearances for the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels. Acquired in the 2024 trade that sent Ross Stripling to Oakland, the 24-year-old outfielder in the San Francisco Giants organization swiped 58 bases in each of the previous two seasons. He has 19 steals in the current campaign.
Aidan Cremarosa is 4-0 with a 2.54 ERA, a 2.32 FIP, and a 37.7% strikeout rate over 39 innings for the Low-A Charleston RiverDogs. The 22-year-old right-hander in the Tampa Bay Rays organization was drafted in the eighth round last year out of Fresno State.
Jordan Woods is 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA, a 2.68 FIP, and a 33.3% strikeout rate over 30 innings for the Low-A Columbia Fireflies. Signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Kansas City Royals in 2022, the 22-year-old left-hander from Oakville, Ontario threw six perfect innings with 14 strikeouts versus Kannapolis last Sunday.
On Wednesday, a trio of Quad City River Bandits (High-A, Royals) pitchers combined to walk 10 batters, including the first seven, in the sixth inning of a 15-3 loss to the Lansing Lugnuts (Athletics). There were just two hits in the nine-run frame, one by Myles Naylor, the younger brother of Bo Naylor and Josh Naylor, and the other by C.J. Pittaro, the son of former big-league infielder Chris Pittaro.
On Thursday, the South Bend Cubs (High-A, Chicago) collected 20 hits and 15 walks on their way to a 25-6 thrashing of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Brewers). Matt Hallbach, a 23-year-old third baseman out of UC San Diego, went 5-for-5 with a home run and six RBIs
On Friday, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Florida Complex League entry lambasted the Baltimore Orioles’ entry by a score of 28-1. Hyun Seung Lee, an 18-year-old shortstop from Seoul, South Korea, went 3-for-4 with four runs and six RBIs.
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A random obscure former player snapshot:
Chet Kehn is one of two players in Dodgers franchise history with a 1.000 batting average and more than one base hit (Kip Gross, a fellow pitcher, is the other). A right-hander whose career comprised three games for Brooklyn in 1942, Kehn came to the plate three times, all in his MLB debut, drawing a walk and recording a pair of singles. Moreover, both of his hits — the second of which drove in Ducky Medwick — were in the same frame. He never against wielded a bat in the bigs.
His pitching exploits weren’t anything to write home about. The San Diego native tossed a total of seven-and-two-thirds innings, allowing eight hits and six runs, with four walks and three strikeouts. His 1948 season with the California League’s Santa Barbara Dodgers is noteworthy. A player-manager, Kehn went 10-7 with a 5.32 ERA on the mound, and 32-for-87 (.368) at the plate. One of the Class-C club’s outfielders was 19-year-old Dick Williams, who went on to play parts of 13 major-league seasons, then became a Hall of Fame manager.
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
Luis Peña — the No. 2 prospect in the Milwaukee Brewers system — is back after missing time due to a serious health scare. MLB.com’s Adam McCalvey has the story.
At CBS Sports, Julian McWilliams wrote about the popularity of Kyle Schwarber.
Five decades ago, Dusty Baker bought Ron Washington his first suit. John Shea wrote about their long-lasting relationship for The San Francisco Standard.
Sports Illustrated’s Stephanie Apstein opined that the Giants’ grim outlook likely goes well beyond this season.
TribLive’s Kevin Gorman wrote about how Pirates right-hander Bubba Chandler has adopted a “Who cares?” attitude toward his high walk rate.
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
The Los Angeles Angels have won just four of the 34 games they have played in Cleveland since 2015.
Jesús Luzardo has a 2.93 FIP and a .366 BABIP this season. Ranger Suarez has a 2.93 FIP and a .243 BABIP.
Brandon Marsh has a .369 BABIP since the start of the 2022 season, the highest among qualified hitters. Riley Greene, who is at .459 in the current campaign, has a .354 BABIP over that span.
Kyle Schwarber is slashing .330/.468/.660 with nine doubles and eight home runs in 126 career plate appearances at Fenway Park.
Cecil Fielder, Torii Hunter, and Greg Vaughn combined to go 6-for-116 (.052) with 60 strikeouts against Roger Clemens. Gary Sheffield went 11-for-18 (.611) with one strikeout against Clemens.
On today’s date in 1927, Charlie Grimm drove home the deciding run as the Chicago Cubs edged the Boston Braves 4-3 in 22 innings. Bob Smith went the distance for the loss — he allowed 20 hits and walked nine —while Bob Osborn worked 14 innings of scoreless relief for the win.
On today’s date in 2002, the Minnesota Twins scored three times in the top of the 14th inning, only to have the New York Yankees respond with four in the bottom half to win 13-12. Jason Giambi walked the game off with a grand slam.
Players born on today’s date include Scott Seabol, a second baseman whose MLB career comprised one game for the New York Yankees in 2001, and 59 games for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2005. A native of McKeesport, Pennsylvania who hit his lone round-tripper against his original team — Tanyon Sturtze surrendered the gopher — Seabol was selected in the 88th round of the 1996 draft. A total of 1,717 players were taken in front of him that year.
Also born on today’s date was Ace Parker, an infielder who logged 37 hits, including a home run in his first big-league at-bat, while appearing in 94 games for the Philadelphia Athletics across the 1937-1938 seasons. His success on the gridiron far surpassed what he did on the diamond. Parker is in both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Claral Gillenwater’s big-league career comprised five games for the Chicago White Sox, for whom he went 1-3 with a 5.48 ERA in 1923. The Sims, Indiana native took the hill for numerous teams down on the farm, including the Evansville Evas, Muskegon Anglers, Peoria Tractors, Petersburg Goobers, Terre Haute Tots, and Wheeling Stogies.
David Laurila grew up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and now writes about baseball from his home in Cambridge, Mass. He authored the Prospectus Q&A series at Baseball Prospectus from December 2006-May 2011 before being claimed off waivers by FanGraphs. He can be followed on Twitter @DavidLaurilaQA.
Relatively easy quiz today – Greg Vaughn’s season in San Diego stands out as the highest single season total in Padres history and they went to the World Series that year. I struggled a bit with the AL player, but I went with Griffey and his monster run in the late 90s.
I whiffed. I thought it might have been the Brady Anderson year, but that was 1996. Couldn’t really come up with an NL’er, so guessed Bonds even though I was pretty sure it was wrong. The McGuire/Sosa battle was reportedly what got Bonds interested in PED’s and his biggest power numbers came after.
I remembered Griffey’s power surge after he had been in the league for a few years. He was hitting about 50 homers a year at that point regularly, so I was pretty sure he was one of them.
For the NL I had no idea so I guessed Larry Walker. The pre-humidor Coors era was bananas, so I figured he probably had the best shot. He only had 23 that year, although he had 49 the year before. That is tied with Todd Helton’s 2001 as the most homers in Rockies history in a single season. I would have been closer with Vinny Castilla, who hit 46 in 1998.
Knew Griffey–even knew the number of HR–but that’s it.
Same with me, I also knew Griffey but came up empty for the National League.
Yeah got this one.
Griffey was easy.
At first I thought of Brady Anderson, but, I honestly couldn’t remember what year he did it & then realized Griffey was still in Seattle, so the AL/NL clue meant it couldn’t be him.
Then remembered Vaughn had that out of the blue 50 HR that year as an afterthought to Big Mac/Sosa.
I honestly had no idea. I’ve done everything I can to block those years of baseball out of my mind.
I have a hole in my baseball knowledge starting in 1995 and ending in 1998. I was pretty disgusted with the game due to the strike and Pedro had not yet ascended to his final form.
I got Vaughn immediately. I’m a NL team fan. Guessed the wrong Mariner.
Narrowed the AL to A-Rod or Junior. Went A-Rod but he didn’t get to 50 until a few years and another team later.
For the NL, I was pretty set on Andruw Jones remembering that one monster year (turns out that was not until 2005). Was all set to move on and then remembered that Vaughn had that one monster year (it was actually more like 2 years since he was nearly as good the next year). Was kind of undecided at that point, could have gone either way.
Got it too–first one in a bit. Remembered the back-to-back Griffey 56 HR seasons. I probably would have guessed Luis Gonzalez if I hadn’t been discussing the least memorable teams yesterday, and realizing that he had his 50+HR season in 2001. For Greg Vaughn, my only pause was that I couldn’t quite remember if he was with the Brewers at the time, who were an AL team. But I was certain of Griffey for the AL, so I ended up going with Vaughn.
Yeah Vaughn’s season was such an outlier I recalled it immediately, Griffey took a minute, but I got there.
The almost-quiz question inspired me to look something up. I was pretty surprised by the answer, let’s see if anyone else can get it:
Minimum of 1000 PAs, from 1951 to the present: Out of the 30 MLB franchises, there are 28 players who lead their franchises in batting average. Who are the two players who led two different franchises in batting average? (Again, a minimum of 1000 PAs, 1951 to the present)
Bonus quiz question: There are two additional franchises led by players with a shared family name. Who are the two players who each led their franchises with the same last name?
(Apologies if I missed someone)
Rod Carew leading Minnesota & LAA is 1 guess.
Bill Madlock leading SFG & Cubs is the other.
Really wanted to say Wade Boggs but my memory is he didn’t hit that well for the Yankees,
This was my guess also
Total whiff: guessed Molitor and Carew. And for the bonus, I completely drew a blank. Thought Robinson, but figured post-1951 meant it couldn’t be Jackie.
The answer to my quiz question from above is below.
With a minimum of 1000 PAs for the franchise, and from 1951 to the present, there are two players who lead two different franchises in batting average. They are:
(I think there’s a decent chance you got that one)
(that one I think is harder)
There are a few other players that are close, such as:
But they only lead one franchise and are very very close to the top for the second but not quite there.
There are also two additional franchises who are led by players with the same family / last name. They are:
and
I think the answer to those is hard to come up with, but once you know it, it makes sense. What is more surprising is the teams they played for.
Got Boggs, not the rest
I would have thought for sure if you had given me two that they would be drawn from Carew, Boggs, and Molitor. Alomar was not on my radar at all. But Molitor was only second for the Brewers and Carew was only second for the Angels. And Alomar was also second for the Blue Jays, behind Molitor.
Vlad Sr is #1 for the Angels, but only second for the Nationals / Expos because of Daniel Murphy’s completely unexpected late career surge.
I’m more impressed by your comment formatting.
Dusty Baker is unironically the most interesting man in the world. If I could pick one baseball guy to hang out with for an afternoon, he would almost certainly be my choice.
It’s not just baseball–the guy literally invented the high-five, started a solar energy firm in his “retirement,” and generally seems like an empathetic and thoughtful guy. But in baseball, he might have been present for more of baseball history than anyone in the entire sport. Something like 55 years of being at the very center of baseball history.
Mine would be Bill Veeck, but I would need a time machine ot a seance.
“If you could have lunch with one person, living or dead, who would it be?”
“The living one.” (paraphrased from PBS/Stephan Pastis)
Harold Ramirez is on the Jeremy Hellickson trade tree: Hellickson to Justin WIlliams to Tommy Pham to Esteban Quiroz to Ramirez. That trade tree is still alive with Marcus Johnson and Santiago Suarez, the return for Xavier Edwards who also came over in the Pham deal. (Other players were involved in a bunch of these trades.)
Griffey was a slam dunk, but I couldn’t even come up with a credible guess for the NL guy.
As for sadtrombone’s bonus quiz, I figured the Alou’s for the family connection, recalling Mateo ran those ridiculously high averages for Pittsburgh in the 1966-1969 window, but guessed Felipe must be the Braves leader from his handful of mid-60s seasons with them. Forgot what a good hitter Moises was.
Jason Collins got a shit sandwich health-wise and interpersonally. RIP.
“The Tigers came up with a split deal to be on the big-league roster on Opening Day, and they’ve been in the playoffs the last couple of years….”
this quote says a lot about where players like to play, especially good free agents – they want to play on teams that win (162 games on a bad team must be quite the slog) and/or have the potential to win and make the postseason soon.
So when fans of poor or declining teams (including me) gripe about their favorite teams not signing or trading players who are free agents or will reach free agency within two seasons, it might often be that the players don’t want to be there, no matter how large or long the contract. Winning and being in the playoffs might be more important than money to them.
Also, I keep noticing that players from mainly the 1960s tend to die in their 80s while players from the 70s seem to die in their 70s…….it could just be bias on my part, but I wonder if there’s a trend here….hmmm….might be a good research project.
Lots more coke
I noticed during the week that Dick Hughes has passed away. That is significant to me because he started the only World Series I have ever attended, Game 6 in 1967. He got lit up by Rico Petrocelli in the 2nd then in the 4th, Yaz, Reggie Smith and Rico, again, all took him deep. I had tickets for the game but the Red Sox fell behind 3 games to 1 and I had to sweat out Game 5. It was a great game and will always be one of the highlights in my lifelong love of baseball.
Sidearm knuckleball seems like a darn good way to pitch if you are nearing 50 and still in the game. Also the year after Tommy John.
Throw a sidearm screwball and palm ball and you become my favorite player of all time.