Fifteen Former Space Cowboys Make Astros 2026 Wild Card Roster

With the start of the 2026 Major League Postseason, the Houston Astros initial American League Wild Card roster includes 15 of 26 players that have played for the Sugar Land Space Cowboys in their career, as announced by Houston on Tuesday.

PITCHERS (Years with Sugar Land):

RHP Bryan Abreu (2021)

RHP AJ Blubaugh (2024 – 25)

RHP Hunter Brown (2021 – 22)

LHP Josh Hendrickson (2026)

LHP Bryan King (2024, ’26)

RHP Peter Lambert (2026)

LHP Bennett Sousa (2023, ’25)

RHP Miguel Ullola (2024 – 26)

RHP Logan VanWey (2023 – 26)

CATCHERS:

Yainer Diaz (2022)

INFIELDERS:

Raynel Delgado (2026)

Jeremy Peña (2021)

OUTFIELDERS:

Joey Loperfido (2023 – 24, ’26)

Lucas Spence (2026)

Taylor Trammell (2026)

Of those 15 players, nine were a part of the Space Cowboys roster in 2026, including Hendrickson, King, Lambert, Ullola, VanWey, Delgado, Loperfido, Spence and Trammell. Additionally, 10 of the 15 former Space Cowboys players on the Astros’ 2026 Wild Card roster made their Major League debut going from Sugar Land to Houston, including Blubaugh, Brown, Hendrickson, King, Ullola, VanWey, Diaz, Peña, Loperfido and Spence.

Blubaugh, who is scheduled to start Game 1 for Houston, made 49 career appearances with Sugar Land between 2024 and 2025 and is second all-time in Space Cowboys history in starts (44), tied for second in wins (17) and fourth in strikeouts (229) and innings pitched (223.2). The righty started the Space Cowboys’ first ever Triple-A postseason game in the Pacific Coast League Championship Series in 2024, going 5.2 innings and allowing two runs on three hits and three walks with six strikeouts, earning the win in a 14-2 Sugar Land victory over the Reno Aces. This year with Houston, Blubaugh made 64 appearances, all in relief, going 5-3 with a 3.66 ERA over 96.0 innings with 42 walks and 94 strikeouts. Blubaugh led all Major League relievers in innings pitched while also leading the Majors in appearances of 2.0 or more innings with 27. He became the first Astros pitcher to lead their league in relief innings since RHP Doug Jones in 1992 (111.2 IP).

Spence progressed from Double-A Corpus Christi to the Majors in 2026 and appeared in 53 total games with Sugar Land, hitting .213/.332 with eight doubles, two triples, eight home runs and 31 RBI with 27 runs scored and 31 walks. He played in 16 games at Triple A before the Astros selected his contract on July 17 and made his Major League debut that same night. Spence was optioned to Sugar Land on August 3 and played out the remainder of the Space Cowboys’ regular season in Sugar Land. The 23-year-old closed out the season in strong fashion with the Space Cowboys, slashing .254/.369/.634/1.003 over his final 21 games (since August 25) with four doubles, a triple, seven home runs, 14 RBI, 14 runs scored, 13 walks and four stolen bases. In that stretch, he led the Pacific Coast League in home runs and was second in slugging, third in OPS, fourth in extra-base hits (12) and fifth in total bases (46). Spence was recalled by Houston on September 23 and went 6-for-18 in five games with the Astros with a double, a triple, four home runs and nine RBI, including a historic three-homer game on September 24 at the Athletics, becoming just the third player in Major League history to hit each of his first three Major League homers in a single game while also becoming the second Astros’ rookie to record a three-homer game, joining Yordan Alvarez in 2019.

Hendrickson earns his way onto the postseason roster after making his Major League debut with the Astros on September 23, making two relief outings and surrendering one run in 2.2 innings with no walks and three strikeouts. Signed as a minor league free agent by Houston on April 18, 2026, Hendrickson made 23 outings, 19 starts, with Sugar Land in 2026, going 9-7 with a 4.75 ERA in 113.2 innings with 27 walks and 106 strikeouts. Hendrickson led Sugar Land in wins, starts, innings pitched and strikeouts, while finishing fourth in the Pacific Coast League in punchouts, tied for fourth in wins and ninth in innings pitched. The lefty went at least 5.0 innings in 16 of his 23 appearances with the Space Cowboys in 2026, including four quality starts.

Ullola, who was added to the Astros 40-man roster prior to the 2026 season, debuted with Houston this year and went 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA in 11 outings, two starts, firing 16.2 innings with four runs allowed and five walks to 16 strikeouts. Ullola began the year in the Space Cowboys’ rotation but transitioned to the bullpen on May 30, and as a reliever with Sugar Land went 4-0 with a 1.57 ERA in 29 outings, giving up just six runs, five earned, in 28.2 innings with 13 walks and 42 strikeouts. As a reliever with Sugar Land in 2026, the righty made 26 scoreless outings of his 29 appearances and only allowed an earned run in two of his 29 outings. Ullola made his second career start in Triple A in Game 2 of the Pacific Coast League Championship Series in 2024 with Sugar Land, going 4.0 shutout innings and allowing just two hits and two walks with five strikeouts in a 5-2 Sugar Land victory to clinch their first Pacific Coast League title.

VanWey, who had his contract selected again during the season by Houston, made a career-high 10 outings with the Astros in 2026, going 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA in 12.2 innings, walking just one with nine strikeouts. He also made 52 relief appearances with Sugar Land, going 3-5 with a 5.12 ERA, striking out 69 batters in 51.0 innings. VanWey led the Pacific Coast League in holds with 14 and finished tied for second in Minor League Baseball in holds, while his 52 minor league appearances were tied for the ninth most in MiLB in 2026. All time with Sugar Land, VanWey is 14-7 with a 4.26 ERA, and he is the franchises’ all-time leader in appearances (137) and holds (34) while sitting 10^th all time in strikeouts. He appeared in all three postseason games for Sugar Land during their 2024 Triple-A Championship season, firing 3.1 hitless, shutout innings while stranding all five inherited runners and collecting a pair of holds. VanWey was the only member of the Space Cowboys’ pitching staff in 2024 that appeared in all three postseason games.

The Astros begin their Wild Card Series on Tuesday afternoon at 4 pm CT at Daikin Park against the Chicago White Sox.

ABOUT THE SUGAR LAND SPACE COWBOYS:

The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros and compete in the Pacific Coast League. They began play as the Astros’ Triple-A affiliate in 2021 and began playing under the Space Cowboys brand in 2022, winning their first Triple-A title in 2024 by clinching both the Pacific Coast League Championship and Triple-A National Championship. The Space Cowboys play at Constellation Field, located at the corner of Hwy-6 and US-90 Alternate in Sugar Land, Texas. Follow the team on Twitter (@SLSpaceCowboys), Instagram (@slspacecowboys), Facebook (SLSpaceCowboys) and their official website (slspacecowboys.com). Season ticket plans for the 2027 season are available now and can be purchased at slspacecowboys.com/tickets.