At present, the Houston Astros are poised to make it to the playoffs as the winner of the AL West division, and their 8-7 win over the New York Yankees on Wednesday increased their lead in the division after the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers both lost their most recent games. And with the regular season coming to a close, all the Astros are hoping for is to end the campaign healthy.
Alas, the Astros had to make a crucial roster move on Wednesday, with their hand being forced by a rather unfortunate development for Spencer Arrighetti. The Astros had to place Arrighetti on the 15-day injured list with an elbow injury, and that is not good news whatsoever — with the 25-year-old starting pitcher reporting pain in his elbow after throwing a bullpen session, according to Chandler Rome of The Athletic.
For the Astros to have taken this drastic of a measure right after Arrighetti complained of elbow discomfort means that they deemed his injury to be something that's serious enough. It's not quite clear when Arrighetti will be back, although if he does before the regular season ends, he'll be cutting it close, as he'll have to miss a minimum of two weeks — giving him just a little over a week to get back to game sharpness.
This has just been a nightmare 2025 season for Arrighetti, a rather discouraging follow-up to such a promising rookie campaign. The 25-year-old missed almost four months after he sustained a broken right thumb, and he couldn't really get his sea legs once he returned from injury — posting a rather uninspiring 5.35 ERA across seven starts.
Since returning in August, Arrighetti has put up an ERA of 5.26 with a record of 0-4 in five starts. Perhaps this IL stint could do him a world of good as he tries to get back to 100 percent.
Gauging the state of the Astros' rotation
The Astros' rotation is currently fronted by Hunter Brown, who's been excellent all year with an ERA of 2.34 across 161.2 innings of work. Framber Valdez joins him as a one-two punch, with Valdez remaining one of the best and most consistent starters in the entire MLB.
The rest of the Astros' rotation is where uncertainty lies, especially after Arrighetti's unfortunate trip to the injured list. Cristian Javier recently returned from Tommy John surgery and is slated to make his fifth start of the season on Thursday. Will he remain healthy for the rest of the season? And can Jason Alexander and Luis Garcia continue to put up solid starts at the back end of Houston's rotation?
