Astros’ Spencer Arrighetti Focused on Good After Rough Return from IL

Despite being in first place in the American League West, the Houston Astros have dealt with more injuries than pretty much any contending team.

On Wednesday night, Houston got some reinforcements back on the mound.

With arms like Cristian Javier, Hayden Wesneski, Ronel Blanco and JP France all on the 60-day IL, the Astros were in need of some innings. On Wednesday night, Houston reinstated Spencer Arrighetti from the injured list for his first start since April 5.

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The right-hander made three rehab starts, in which he allowed seven earned runs in 11 innings for a 5.73 ERA. He also struck out 11.

Spencer Arrighetti's First MLB Start Since April

Houston Astros starting pitcher Spencer Arrighetti throws while wearing a gray uniform with Houston on front and a blue hat — Apr 5, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Spencer Arrighetti (41) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. | Jordan Johnson-Imagn Images

Arrighetti, 25, returned to the mound in Miami on Wednesday. It was not the prettiest first start back, with the right-hander allowing 11 hits and five runs while striking out five in just 3.2 innings.

"Gotta be better, you know? I want to give the team more of a chance. Obviously, it's not how I drew it up, but I feel like I made some pretty good pitches for the most part. Obviously, I had some mistakes in there, and a lot of weird baseball stuff, which kind of is how it is," Arrighetti said, according to MLB.com.

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He did get hit around a lot, allowing 11 hits including a home run and triple. However, the 25-year-old did make good pitches. Four of his five strikeouts were all swinging strikes and his first was a foul tip.

"I thought he kind of missed some pitches out over the plate. A combination of that and some soft contact also. A little rusty there, but stuff-wise, I thought he was spinning the ball well. The shape of his pitches was pretty good," manager Joe Espada said of the right-hander's outing.

After such a long layoff, it's no surprise that Arrighetti might need more time to knock off some rust going forward and into the playoffs. Last season, though, he proved he can be an asset.

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In 29 games, 28 of them starts, in his rookie season, Arrighetti showed that he has good enough stuff to compete at this level, striking out 171 batters in 145 innings. He posted a 4.53 ERA, but a 4.18 FIP, meaning he was a little unlucky.

Even though his numbers weren't pretty last season, his stuff will keep him in this rotation for a while, especially with the injured pitchers in the rotation.

Although it was not a good first outing back, the right-hander seems to recognize that it might take some time and he wants to focus on what went right in the short return outing.

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