Out of 55 players to appear through the 2024 campaign with the Houston Astros, former ‘stro Jake Bloss ranks 39th.
Here’s the skinny on the methodology for this offseason’s featured series.
Two offseasons ago, I used a randomizer to order the “Oops! All Astros!” series, then last offseason, I used baseball reference’s Wins Above Replacement divided by either PA or BF to order which players were better for longer.
This season, I’m using plate appearances * OPS+ or batters faced * ERA+ in order to organize the 55 players to play for Houston in 2024. I’m counting down the top 40 in a bit of detail. The complete list to this point:
55. Grae Kessinger
54. Cooper Hummel
53. Pedro Leon
52. Aledmys Diaz
51. Jacob Ayama
50. Wander Suero
49. Miguel Diaz
48. Dylan Coleman
47. Forrest Whitley
46. Blair Henley
45. Joel Kuhnel
44. Jose Abréu
43. Alex Speas
42. Luis Contreras
41. Nick Hernandez
40. Parker Mushinski
The number 39 most positively impactful member of the Houston Astros in 2024 was Jake Bloss.
Bloss faced a total of 55 batters for Houston prior to his trade to the Toronto Blue Jays, and racked up a 59 ERA+. Prior to his major league debut, he was ranked as Houston’s number 11 prospect by both Baseball America and the MLB Pipeline.
Bloss was not expected to make his major league debut this season, but having an entire rotation on the injured list pressed him into sooner than expected service. He appeared in a total of three games at baseball’s top level, starting all of them. In his debut, on June 21, he struck out a pair and walked a batter in 3 2⁄3 innings, giving up two runs on six hits before getting removed with a minor injury. The Astros eventually won that game, 14-11 over the Baltimore Orioles.
In Bloss’ return to action on July 11, he earned no decision in another Houston win, 6-3 over the Miami Marlins. Bloss struck out four and allowed two runs on four hits and a walk over four frames. He earned his first major league decision in his final start for Houston, giving up five runs in four innings to the Oakland Athletics in an 8-2 loss. Although he struck out five, four of the six hits he allowed were home runs.
Bloss was reliant on six pitches in his repertoire, headlined by a 93 MPH four-seam fastball (44 percent). He leavened that offering with an 88 MPH slider (23 percent), a 78 MPH curveball (13 percent), an 82 MPH sweeper (11 percent), an 87 MPH changeup (eight percent) and a 92 MPH sinker (two percent).
Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images
Bloss threw 228 pitches for the Astros at the major league level, but his curve, used only 31 times in total, was likely his best offering, with an xwOBA of just .184. His sweeper, utilized only 25 times, generated 11 swing and misses — a 44 percent whiff rate.
Originally, Bloss was a third-round choice of the Astros in 2023 out of Georgetown University. A six-foot-three, 223 lb. right handed pitcher, he’s a native of Greensboro, NC. In 11 2⁄3 innings in total, he surrendered 16 hits and struck out 11, walking three and posting a 1.629 WHIP. He has a sky-high 30 percent hard-hit percentage and a bottom-of-the-barrel 15 percent barrel percentage, along with a chase percentage of .333.
On July 29, Houston sent Bloss with Joey Loperfido and Will Wagner to the Blue Jays for left-handed starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi. Initially panned as a trade in which Dana Brown gave up too much for not enough, Kikuchi has proved more than serviceable, maybe even a number two or 1A type starter.
Bloss ended his season with the Buffalo Bisons, Toronto’s triple-A team in the International League, and his major league rookie status remains intact.