KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There stood the last line of defense, deployed during the 13th game of this disastrous start for a debut everyone envisioned. Injuries invaded the Houston Astros’ rotation, illogical roster construction crippled their bullpen and inactivity all winter allowed Spencer Arrighetti to actualize his dream before many presumed he would.
Arrighetti is all the Astros have left. Five established starters are on the injured list, their barren farm system isn’t supplying readymade replacements and their baseball operations department decided not to supplement it with any seasoned depth, a decision that grows more mystifying as this miserable April drags on.
Arrighetti is the Astros’ most prized pitching prospect, a cerebral and confident right-hander with a remarkable grasp on how pitching is modernizing. He ascended two minor-league affiliates last season while authoring his breakout, but still made just 15 appearances above Double-A before his major-league debut Wednesday night against the Kansas City Royals.
Before it began, one opposing scout who has seen Arrighetti pitch multiple times mused that “he’s a good bet to be a back-of-the-rotation starter.”
“Not sure he’s ready to be in the rotation full-time yet,” the scout added, “but he should be competitive for now. I don’t see major upside, but he should be someone who helps a team.”
Houston is in dire need of it, so Arrighetti arrived Wednesday to assist. Whether he is ready is irrelevant. An ideal scenario involved Arrighetti getting more seasoning in the upper minor leagues, but he is a healthy pitcher with some prospect cache capable of throwing around 75 pitches, all rarities for this reeling team.
Arrighetti threw 80 pitches in his first Triple-A start and 77 during the second. Manager Joe Espada hoped Arrighetti could contribute 80 or 85 on Wednesday. He froze the first batter he faced with a wicked two-strike cutter, collecting the first strikeout while sending the “army” of family and friends above the Astros’ dugout into a frenzy.
First batter. First Major League K for Spencer Arrighetti. pic.twitter.com/IEhDqSPq11
— Houston Astros (@astros) April 10, 2024
Arrighetti procured his first six outs on 36 pitches. He needed 43 to secure the next three. Pitchers aren’t often stretched so far in one frame, but Espada had little choice but to watch the carnage continue during Houston’s sixth straight day playing. Seven more games loom before the team’s next scheduled off day.
Espada’s bullpen is beaten up, a byproduct of befuddling roster decisions and Blair Henley’s brutal major-league debut Monday in Arlington. Arrighetti’s truncated start forced Parker Mushinski to throw a career-high 54 pitches and Brandon Bielak to toss 50 more. Bielak’s thrown 136 pitches in the past six days — total overuse that is obviously unsustainable.
“Just trying to get through the game, trying to be able to have some guys for tomorrow and try to win a game tomorrow,” Espada said of stretching Arrighetti to 43 pitches in an inning.
Henley collected one out. Arrighetti at least secured nine. Kansas City scored seven times, struck six hits and worked two walks against him in the third inning. The Royals seized advantage of a pitcher with no feel for half his arsenal while discovering in real-time the rigors of facing a major-league lineup.
“The biggest takeaway is that this is all a big learning curve,” Arrighetti said. “I’m feeling newer than ever. I think that’s a good thing. That’s a challenge for me and there’s a lot I can take away.”
Arrighetti is an Albuquerque, N.M., native, but attended high school in a Houston suburb and supported the Astros throughout his childhood, creating a full-circle moment for the club’s sixth-round pick of the 2021 draft. His confidence is lauded throughout the organization and his pragmatism is perhaps one of his best traits.
“Knowing that you belong is very important and I think he knows that he belongs,” Espada said before the game. “Not trying to do too much, stay calm, let your defense help you out, execute your pitches and trust the plan. I think he’s capable of doing those things.”
Afterward, Arrighetti’s news conference alternated between amazement and analytical, complete with some head shakes and a steady dose of self-criticism. He acknowledged being “a little bit of an anxious mess” before the game and in the bullpen. Striking out leadoff man Maikel Garcia helped it to dissipate. Watching budding superstar Bobby Witt Jr. swing through a full-count cutter only calmed him further.
His four-seam fastball reached 96.7 mph during Vinnie Pasquantino’s first-inning plate appearance and settled at 94.8 mph across his entire outing. Arrighetti’s first trip through Kansas City’s lineup featured three pitches: that four-seam fastball thrown with enough extension to create deception, a cutter he developed last season and the sweeper Houston’s pitching coaches taught him early in his professional career.
Arrighetti had a feel for just the cutter. Of the 25 four-seam fastballs he threw, just two were called strikes. Of the 21 sweepers he spun, eight generated swings and only four were swung through.
“These guys are really, really good hitters,” Arrighetti said. “Even if I miss by a little bit, it gets put in play and it finds a hole. I learned that really quickly today. I wouldn’t say it was one of my bad stuff or control days, but I do think I didn’t do the best job of controlling everything I could control in terms of execution tonight.”
Arrighetti could have taken solace in some poor batted ball luck but opted for a more blunt assessment of his arsenal. Of the seven hits he surrendered, just two were struck harder than 95 mph. Kansas City averaged just 84.2 mph on the 13 balls put in play against him.
Yet, of the 36 swings Kansas City took against him, only nine were whiffs. Without a reliable putaway pitch — or precise command of his four-seam fastball — Arrighetti could not function in two-strike counts or miss enough bats to navigate the lineup a second time. Kansas City zoned in on his lack of spin and spit on most of the sweepers he threw.
“If you look at the way I’ve pitched up until this point — up until I faced a big-league lineup — that’s been the pitch that I can go to any time to get soft contact, get a whiff,” Arrighetti said. “I was working really hard to try and get there and just not really finding it.”
The Royals are not a menacing lineup but did arrive Wednesday with a 104 wRC+. The Astros tailored their rotation so Arrighetti could face them, pushing both Hunter Brown and J.P. France back a day to insert him in the rotation.
Espada confirmed afterward that Arrighetti will get a “second opportunity” and it stands to reason he will remain in Houston’s rotation until Justin Verlander’s expected return later this month. Presuming Houston stays in turn, Arrighetti’s next start will arrive against a far more formidable foe: the Atlanta Braves.
“Pitching in the big leagues is not an easy task, but he does have the weapons to be successful,” Espada said. “Our job is to help him be successful.”
They have no choice.
(Photo: Jay Biggerstaff / Getty Images)
