Spencer Arrighetti Gives Evaluation Of His Major League Debut With Houston Astros
The Houston Astros decided to call up their top pitching prospect, Spencer Arrighetti, from Triple-A and have him make his Major League debut against the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday.
Because there are five starters currently on the injured list, the Astros have been searching for some answers in the short-term who could come in and help them steady the ship before they get back Justin Verlander, who's the first pitcher expected to return.
Handing Arrighetti the ball placed a ton of pressure on him as expectations always surround any of the top prospects in minor league baseball.
And sure enough, his debut was brutal.
The 24-year-old gave up seven earned runs, all coming in the third inning, after a barrage of hits and base runners allowed the Royals to hit around their batting order.
It wasn't all bad for Arrighetti, though.
He finished his three inning outing with three strikeouts, two of which came in the first frame on back-to-back batters.
Still, there was a lot to be desired for Houston's youngster and he'll get the opportunity to clean things up after manager Joe Espada revealed their plans for Arrighetti moving forward.
The right-hander talked about his debut, giving an interesting perspective on what went wrong and what he needs to do in order to improve his performance at this level going forward.
"I feel like today I made some mistakes with four-seams, I made some mistakes with spin that I normally wouldn't. And these guys are really, really good hitters. Even if I miss by a little bit, it gets put in play, it finds a hole. I learned that really quickly today," he said according to Matt Kawahara of The Houston Chronicle.
Things snowballed fast for Arrighetti as he worked through his first two innings allowing only one hit before getting teed off on to the tune of six hits that brought in seven runs.
The highlight for him was his cutter, which produced the back-to-back strikeouts in the first inning. He shared that is his "go to" pitch, and if he's able to use it the way he did, that should be a major help. He also struggled to put batters away when up in the count, something that needs to improve at this level.
But, Arrighetti was thoughtful about what he's looking to do on the mound during his second start.
"I think I just need to be sharper the second time through the lineup. I think I maybe got away with a little bit early, just because they hadn't seen my stuff yet, seen the way I throw. But obviously, that second time through, I know I need to be in the zone when I need to be in and out of it when I need to be out, he said.
The Astros need someone to step up and boost this rotation while their usual starters are injured.
Both Arrighetti and the front office are hoping that he'll be the one to do that.
BRAD WAKAI
Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he did work at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad currently covers the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros for Sports Illustrated/FanNation. He is also the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continues to cover Penn State athletics. Brad is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, discussing topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai