HOUSTON, TX - Major League Baseball announced today that Houston Astros RHP Ronel Blanco has been named the American League Player of the Week for the week of April 1-7.

It is the first career weekly award for Blanco, who threw the 17th no-hitter (including postseason) in Astros history on April 1 vs. the Toronto Blue Jays. Dating back to last season, the Astros have won two-of the-last-three AL Player of the Week Awards, with RHP Justin Verlander taking home the honor in the final week of the 2023 regular season.

Through two starts last week, Blanco went 2-0 and logged 15.0 scoreless innings while allowing just 1 hit with 11 strikeouts. Following the no-hitter, Blanco made his second start on Sunday, tossing 6.0 scoreless frames as the Astros went on to a 3-1 win over the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. He recorded 44 consecutive outs without allowing a hit to begin his season, which are the most in MLB history to begin a season in at least the Expansion Era (since 1961), per Elias. His 44 consecutive outs without allowing a hit were the second-most at any point of a season in Astros history, trailing only a streak of 51 consecutive outs by RHP Mike Scott in 1986, per Elias.

Blanco’s no-hit effort came in only the eighth start of his career, making him the 18th pitcher in MLB history to throw a solo no-hitter within the first eight starts of a career. The no-hitter was also the Astros’ first win of the year, making Joe Espada the first manager in MLB history to earn his first career managerial win via a no-hitter. The Astros’ 17 no-hitters (including the postseason) since their inception in 1962 are the most in the Majors during that span, with the Los Angeles Dodgers the next-closest at 13.