The Houston Astros were defeated by the Kansas City Royals 11-2 on Wednesday. Houston's No.3 prospect (per MLB.com) Spencer Arrighetti made his MLB debut in the game. Although it was still a special moment as every MLB debut is, it did not exactly go according to plan for Arrighetti.
The 24-year-old surrendered seven runs across three innings of work. He also struck out three and walked three hitters. The young Astros hurler discussed his outing after the game.
“When you want something that bad your whole life, you want it to be perfect,” Arrighetti said, via David Smale of chron.com. “You want it to go really smoothly and you want everything to feel good. But the reality is before the game I was a little bit of an anxious mess. I feel like I had to work harder to get my emotions down.”
Of course, dealing with nerves before your first MLB start is to be expected. It is a huge moment to say the least.
It will be interesting to see if Arrighetti remains with the big league club. He may earn a few more starts given Houston's unfortunate injury concerns in the starting rotation. The Astros need pitching depth and perhaps Arrighetti can help fill the void.
Can Spencer Arrighetti help Astros?
Arrighetti is Houston's third overall prospect and top pitching prospect. His fastball velocity has increased over the past few seasons, but it is Arrighetti's slider that is probably his best pitch. Additionally, he throws a curveball and changeup.
Arrighetti features strikeout potential but he's also dealt with command issues. Improving the control of his pitches will prove to be of the utmost importance if he wants to remain in the starting rotation. You obviously are not going to overreact to three walks in a pitcher's MLB debut, but if free passes continue to be a problem then the Astros will need to make a difficult decision.
The Astros have done an impressive job of developing starting pitchers in recent years. They understand what it takes to get the most out of hurlers. Arrighetti's ceiling is still fairly uncertain, but it would not be surprising to see him emerge as a reliable option in the Astros starting rotation.
Houston, do we have a problem?
The Astros have been one of MLB's most successful franchises since 2016. Although there has been controversy along the way, the Astros have won two World Series championships during that span. And even when Houston is not winning the Fall Classic, it seems like they are always in the ALCS at the very least.
Yet, in 2024, the Astros are just 4-9 so far. Framber Valdez and Justin Verlander are just a couple of Houston's starting pitchers who are battling injuries at the moment.
The offense is going to produce. Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, and Alex Bregman are more than capable of leading a lineup. But this ball club has serious pitching uncertainty right now.
There is reason to be worried about the Astros. Their track record suggests a bounce-back will come to fruition soon, but pitching depth is crucial for any big league team and right now the Astros don't have much of it.
The Astros will attempt to turn their 2024 season around against the Royals in Kansas City on Thursday at 2:10 PM EST.
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