Astros Young Hurler Looking To Carry Over Great Finish Into New Season

A young Houston Astros pitcher is looking to build off a strong finish to his rookie season.

Mar 1, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Houston Astros pitcher Spencer Arrighetti (41) throws a pitch against the New York Yankees during the second inning at George M. Steinbrenner Field. | Dave Nelson-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros have a lot of new faces on their roster heading into the 2025 regular season, which has raised questions about their outlook.

They have dominated the American League West, winning seven straight titles that occurred in 162-game campaigns. Continuing that streak will be a challenge, given how much talent the team lost this winter.

Third baseman Alex Bregman, right fielder Kyle Tucker, starting pictures Justin Verlander and Yusei Kikuchi and relief pitcher Ryan Pressly are gone.

The Astros are going to need other players to step up to replace the players who have moved on.

On the mound, one of the pitchers they are going to be counting on to fill a more prominent role in 2025 is Spencer Arrighetti.

As a rookie last year, he made 29 appearances, starting 28 games. He pitched 145 innings, had an ERA of 4.53 that wasn’t elite, but did show promise with 171 strikeouts and a 27.1% strikeout rate.

Some bad luck burned him as his batting average on balls in play was .321, well above the league average of .291.

However, down the stretch of the season, Arrighetti began to find his stride and performed at a high level. In August, he had an ERA of 1.95 across 32.1 innings. 

His final five appearances weren’t that elite, but he still produced a strong 3.95 ERA over the final 20.2 innings he pitched of the season.

That was a major reason why Jim Bowden of The Athletic (subscription required) put Arrighetti on his 2025 All-Breakout Team.

“He ranked in the 96th percentile in extension, which made his 94 mph fastball feel more like 97 mph. The curveball was his best secondary pitch; batters hit just .171 against it,” the former MLB executive wrote.

Arrighetti's walks were the only issue he had as a rookie, and unfortunately, that carried over into spring training when he issued 16 free passes in only 17 innings of work for a ghastly 8.5 BB/9 ratio.

Despite the lack of control, Arrighetti still managed to keep his ERA in line with a 3.71. He also did well missing bats, racking up 20 K's out of the 79 batters he faced.

The potential to have a breakout campaign is there, given some of the arm talent that he possesses.

If he can find a way to curtail the walks, his production is going to take off.