This story was excerpted from Brian McTaggart’s Astros Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
HOUSTON – Before every game, Astros pitcher AJ Blubaugh can’t take the field until he gets a text message from his mother, Erin. She’s texted the same message to him before every game since he was in high school and has carried it through his time in college, the Minor Leagues and now the big leagues.
The message from Mom hasn’t changed:
“Play hard, have fun, and don't get hurt.”
“Those are three things she has told me since I understood English, and she still texts me that before every single game,” Blubaugh said. “And it feels wrong when I don't get that text before [a game], because it's just a reminder that I can always play hard. That's something I can control. I can always have fun because I'm playing a kid's game for a living, and then she always wishes me to not get hurt. And I've been very blessed to have a mother supporting me this much.”
The 25-year-old Blubaugh, who grew up in Bellville, Ohio, which is between Columbus and Cleveland, credits his parents, including his father, Reggie, for helping him achieve the dream of becoming a big league pitcher. Drafted in the seventh round out of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2022, Blubaugh made his debut last year for the Astros and cracked the Opening Day roster in ‘26.
His mother was there for his debut -- just the way she’s been there for him throughout his baseball career. A middle school teacher, Erin Blubaugh has summers off, which enabled her to cart her son all over the state of Ohio and beyond to chase the baseball dream.
“The first thing that comes in my mind is sacrifice,” Blubaugh said. “Growing up, I know she always -- and I get emotional every time I think about it -- she pushed me more than I could have ever pushed myself. Some examples of that would be in high school, when I started getting outgrown by everybody, she was always the first one to kind of make sure that I was doing everything I could to stay with them.”
That meant waking AJ up at 5 a.m. to come to school with her so he can do some weightlifting before the rest of the kids showed up. Or making sure he went down to the family barn and took some swings, or extra shots on the basketball court.
“I mean, without my mom, there's no way I could possibly be here,” he said.
Blubaugh wanted to follow in his mother’s footsteps and was an elementary school major in college. He even spent a few offseasons as a substitute teacher in the Clear Fork Valley Local School District, where he had attended. When the Astros played in Cleveland last month, about 100 students and teachers from his former school were in the stands to cheer him on.
“A lot of those kids that were there, I remember seeing them in the classroom,” Blubaugh said.
In fact, it was Blubaugh’s mother who was the only teacher to ever send him to the principal’s office, which happened in the seventh grade.
“He's like, ‘You're a good kid. I know you probably didn't do anything wrong. Just be nice to your mom,’” Blubaugh said. “He sent me back to class. So it's funny that I was really upset with her then, but … it actually made me want to be a teacher, as well. So that was always Plan B for me, was to be a teacher because my mom did it.”
As luck would have it, the Astros will be back in Ohio for Mother’s Day on Sunday, where they will be finishing up a series at the Cincinnati Reds. Blubaugh is hoping his mom will be able to come see him play, but not before he gets his text message.
“Play hard, have fun, and don't get hurt.”