The Houston Astros are in one of the tightest divisional races in Major League Baseball. Heading into Saturday's action, Joe Espada's team has a 3.5 game lead in the AFC West. Unfortunately, his pitching staff has seen multiple key pieces miss time due to injury, including Josh Hader and Bennett Sousa. Spencer Arrighetti joins that list and is out for the year thanks to his elbow.
Arrighetti missed his last scheduled start amid concerns with his throwing arm. Houston's medical team monitored him as he tried to recover, but he did not progress well. The veteran had become a big piece of the Astros' rotation behind Hunter Brown and Framber Valdez. Now, starters like Cristian Javier and Luis Garcia have to pick up his slack on the mound.
Espada's starter underwent detailed testing on his arm to determine the severity of his injury. According to The Athletic's Chandler Rome, Arrighetti's season is over, even though he will not require Tommy John surgery for his throwing arm.
“Spencer Arrighetti said his UCL is intact, but the flexor mass is pretty inflamed. They’ll re-image in a couple weeks after that goes down. Arrighetti does not think it will require any surgery, but said he won’t pitch the rest of this season,” Rome said.
The loss is a huge blow to a starting rotation already steeped in drama. The Astros are still dealing with the fallout of Valdez intentionally crossing up his catcher. Now, Houston has to lean even more on him to produce in order to lead the team on a deep playoff run in the American League.
Losing Hader until at least the playoffs put the Astros behind the eight ball. Now, Espada's path to a championship just got even more complex. Houston fans can not do much other than wish Arrighetti a quick recovery and hope the rest of the roster is enough.
