HOUSTON – Former Milwaukee baseball pitcher AJ Blubaugh was called up to make his Major League Baseball debut on Wednesday afternoon for the Houston Astros.
 
With his appearance against the Tigers, Blubaugh became just the second Panther to appear in a Major League game following Daulton Varsho's debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks during the 2020 season.
 
Blubaugh got the call on Monday evening that he would be starting for the Astros on Wednesday. He made the start at Daikan Park in front of 27,568 with many family members and friends in attendance to support him.
 
"It's been a whirlwind for sure," said Blubaugh after his outing. "There have been lots of text messages … family and friends in town and a lot of support from people back home in Ohio, people in Milwaukee from college, and a lot of the teammates that I have now … just a lot of support, love, and prayers, it was truly a blessing."
 
Blubaugh had a fast start striking out two of the first three batters in the Tiger lineup and ended the game with six strikeouts over four innings of work.
 
"It was a really cool moment to see AJ get the ability get the nod at the big league level," said Milwaukee head coach Shaun Wegner. "He's a super athlete, and a tremendous pitcher, but an even better person and is someone that you want to represent our program … we wish nothing but the best for AJ."
 
Blubaugh was the 24th Panther in program history to be drafted in the program's history and was selected in the seventh round (223rd overall) in the 2022 draft following his third season with the Panthers.
 
During his time with the Panthers, he was a two-time Horizon League Relief Pitcher of the Year in both 2021 and 2022, earning First Team All-League honors in both campaigns. He accumulated 84 innings over 38 career appearances for the Panthers while pitching to a 3.54 ERA and striking out 92 batters with a 5-4 record with 14 career saves, tying him for fourth on the all-time saves list at Milwaukee.
 
After being drafted, he had stops with the Astros 'Blue' team at the rookie level of the Houston farm system before moving up to Fayetteville of the Carolina League. In September of his first professional season, he was named the Carolina League Pitcher of the Month.
 
In 2023, he spent time with Asheville of the South Atlantic League (High-A), before moving up to Corpus Christi at the Double-A level where he posted a 1.26 ERA over 14 1/3 innings in four appearances. In the Arizona Fall League season, he pitched for Mesa and was named an AFL Rising Star while playing for the Solar Sox.
 
His progression continued into 2024 as he spent most of the season with Triple-A Sugar Land. As a Space Cowboy, he threw a career-high 124 2/3 innings with 128 strikeouts and had a 12-4 record with a 12.4 record. In July, he was selected to participate in the Futures Game as part of the Major League Baseball All-Star Week at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, retiring the two batters he faced.
 
Blubaugh participated in his first Major League spring training with the Astros in West Palm Beach, Florida in 2025. He made four appearances before being reassigned to Sugar Land to start the season.
 
He appeared in five games, making four starts with the Space Cowboys and had 28 strikeouts over 21 innings with a 3.86 ERA before getting the call to make his debut the Wednesday afternoon in Houston.