Spencer

Arrighetti

The Astros will transition to a six-man rotation around mid-April when they hit a stretch of 13 consecutive games without an off-day. Hunter Brown and Tatsuya Imai are the only locks right now with Cristian Javier, Mike Burrows and Lance McCullers Jr. figuring to break camp in the rotation as well. The battle for the sixth spot in the rotation involves a combination of Spencer Arrighetti, AJ Blubaugh and Peter Lambert. The other option is to bring up someone like Jason Alexander or Colton Gordon a couple weeks into the year.

The run came on Heriberto Hernández’s homer in Arrighetti’s final inning of work. Arrighetti came into the day having given up five runs in five innings this spring. It looks like it could come down to him and Ryan Weiss for the final spot in Houston’s expected six-man rotation.

He struck out two and walked three, finishing with a poor 22% CSW. Arrighetti, who had a 5.35 ERA in his seven starts for Houston last season, has a chance to crack the Astros’ expected six-man rotation, but he’s given up five runs in five innings so far.

The bulk of the damage done against him came on a three-run blast by Luis García Jr. in the third inning. It wasn’t all bad for Arrighetti though, as he racked up four strikeouts in the outing and made it through without experiencing any lingering elbow issues. His velocity on his fastball checked in at 93.3 mph, which is +0.2 mph from where he sat during the 2025 season. It looks like he has plenty of time to get himself ready before Opening Day, so anticipate Arrighetti having a spot in the Astros’ rotation to begin the season.

Arrighetti shouldn’t have any limitations at the outset of camp after managing to avoid surgery after additional imaging didn’t reveal any UCL damage. The 25-year-old former top prospect was limited to just seven starts this past season due to elbow inflammation and a fractured thumb. He’ll be an interesting late-round lottery ticket in fantasy drafts next spring since he’s a virtual lock to have a spot in Houston’s rotation.

Arrighetti told reporters over the weekend that he isn’t dealing with an UCL damage in his right elbow and believes he’ll avoid surgery. The second opinion seems to be precautionary in nature to confirm his initial diagnosis. There should be a definitive update on his status at some point before the regular season wraps up.

While the 25-year-old hurler will still miss the remainder of the season with inflammation in his right elbow, it’s encouraging that he won’t need to go under the knife. He should be fully recovered and ready to rock for the start of spring training.

This came out of nowhere. Arrighetti was scheduled to take the ball for Friday’s series opener against the Rangers. That’s no longer happening. There’s a strong possibility his season is over given the nature of the injury and the greater concern here is that he’ll wind up missing time next season as well. There should be a definitive update on his status at some point in the coming days.

Arrighetti issued five walks, but they didn’t hurt. The lone run he allowed came on the lone hit he allowed; a Zach Neto homer in the third inning. Arrighetti fanned eight after never striking out more than five in any of his first six starts. Because he left a tie game, he avoided what could have been a sixth straight loss since coming off the IL. His ERA stands at 5.35 as he prepares to face the Rangers next weekend.

The Astros did score one run while Arrighetti was in the game today, an improvement over his previous two starts. Arrighetti was successful despite generating just three misses on 47 swings and 97 pitches. With a 6.52 ERA and a 15/10 K/BB in 19 1/3 innings over four starts since coming off the IL. he hasn’t provided much reason to think he’ll be useful in mixed leagues down the stretch. He’ll face the Angels next weekend.