Spencer

Arrighetti

The lone run came in the sixth. With one out and Jose Siri on third, Juan Soto hit a harmless comebacker. Arrighetti grabbed it, looked Siri back and then made a soft toss to first. Siri used the opportunity to take off and beat Christian Walker’s throw home. Aside from that, Arrighetti was sterling in striking out five and walking two. He’ll take on the Twins next weekend.

That’s 16 walks in 17 innings for Arrighetti this spring, though he also struck out 20 and wound up with a 3.71 ERA. Some of the pressure is off the sophomore in light of Luis Garcia’s setback. The Astros might still get Lance McCullers back in late April, but he could take Hayden Wesneski’s spot unless Arrighetti is really struggling.

Arrighetti took over following a scoreless opening frame from Lance McCullers Jr. and was a bit all over the place. He piled up four strikeouts, but also walked four batters and uncorked a wild pitch. The 25-year-old righty has punched out 15 over 12 1/3 innings of work this spring, but it’s fair to wonder if control issues put a lid on his realistic fantasy ceiling. He’s a borderline top-50 starting pitcher for fantasy purposes entering the regular season.

Arrighetti came into the day having walked seven batters in six innings this spring, but he gave out just one free pass against the Cardinals. He has a 2.00 spring ERA in spite of the wildness.

The 25-year-old hurler was able to work around the traffic for the most part, allowing just one run on two hits while striking out two in the ballgame. The lone tally against him came on an RBI single by Lars Nootbaar in the first inning. Arrighetti got six swings and misses on 51 pitches on the night — four on his cutter — while posting a strong CSW of 31 percent. His fastball velocity averaged 93.2 mph in this one, which is nearly a full tick below where he sat during the 2024 season. He holds a 1.50 ERA, 1.67 WHIP and a 7/7 K/BB ratio over six innings through his first three spring starts.

Arrighetti walked three his first time out, but he had no such issues today. His velocity is still down a little from last year, but it already seems to be on the rebound; he averaged 93.3 mph with his fastball today, compared to 92.7 mph on Sunday. He averaged 94.1 mph last season.

Arrighetti averaged 92.7 mph with his fastball today, down from 94.1 mph last season, so that might be something to watch. He’ll almost certainly begin the season in Houston’s rotation, but he might not be able to afford a shaky start if Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis García progress as hoped.

Arrighetti is lined up to start Sunday, but the Astros want to treat him as a reliever instead and line him up to be used that way in the postseason. They’re likely looking at Framber Valdez, Yusei Kikuchi, Ronel Blanco and Hunter Brown as their postseason starters.

Ronel Blanco and Justin Verlander will start the first two games against Cleveland this weekend. We’d still expect Arrighetti to get the nod on Sunday. Framber Valdez would be able to pitch on normal rest that day if there’s reason for him to do so, but the Astros no longer have any chance of earning a bye.

Arrighetti cut through the Angels’ poor lineup for a quality start before the Astros’ bullpen let this game devolve into chaos. He forced a swing-and-miss with five different pitches and wasn’t afraid to challenge them in the strike zone. Sadly, he left this game with a leg crap leaving his next start in questions. As of now, he’s scheduled to face the Guardians in Cleveland for his regular season finale.