Spencer Arrighetti might be the Astros’ “ace” for now. I only partially joke about that assertion.
To be clear, I don’t view Arrighetti as a savior of this pitching staff. The issues run deeper than a guy who makes a start once in every five or six games, depending on how the rotation and schedule align. But the Astros desperately need any stability from the starting rotation, one of the worst in baseball, in order to even survive. The first two starts of Arrighetti’s season have provided exactly that (11 IP, 2.45 ERA, 3.77 FIP).
While his stuff against the Guardians earlier today wasn’t quite as sharp as it was against the Rockies last week, Arrighetti still provided quality innings, limiting Cleveland to two earned runs in five innings. That’s a massive upgrade for a rotation decimated by injuries and overall ineffectiveness. Hey, you take the wins when you can right now. Can’t be too picky about five innings of effective pitching at the moment.
Although it was a cold day in Cleveland, the Astros’ bats chose a fine day to heat up again. Christian Walker had a day with three hits, most notably a two-run home run in the first inning. Isaac Paredes is starting to hit better, with three hits of his own. Carlos Correa had three hits. Brice Matthews looked more comfortable at the plate, with an RBI double in the fourth. Overall, it was a successful game for a lineup that had cooled off in recent games.
But we can’t talk about the Astros without mentioning another injury. This time, it was Taylor Trammell, who exited the game in the fourth with a groin injury when running the basepaths. The severity will determine exactly how long Trammell is out, but he’ll be out for a while regardless. As such, that outfield depth chart is looking pretty rough with Jake Meyers and Joey Loperfido also on the IL. Expect to see more of Dustin Harris and Matthews in the outfield in the coming days.
Now 9-15, Houston still faces an uphill climb in the standings. Even with Arrighetti somewhat stabilizing the rotation in his first two turns, there isn’t enough pitching here to see an immediate reversal in the standings. But Monday’s game was a good start in possibly stopping the bleeding. Whether that’ll continue is a whole separate debate, though.
Feature photo from @astros on X, Source Link
Yep! Arrighetti did good, but he gave up 4 walks in 5 innings. We’ll take the win and celebrate, but the root of the pitching problem is intact. Did Miller turned into a pumpkin overnight? I think not, coaches age well. Is The Texian Army right when he blames Katz? If so, who is going to quarantine him and when?
Weiss and Lambert up the next 2 games im sure we are about to come back down to earth very quickly
“Through April 20, 2026, the Houston Astros pitching staff has struggled, ranking 30th in MLB with a 6.11 ERA and 5.53 BB/9, despite maintaining a high 9.97 K/9 (4th in MLB). Key pitchers include Lance McCullers Jr., Hunter Brown, and Spencer Arrighetti, while bullpen contributors include Bryan Abreu, Bryan King, and Cody Bolton.
MLB.com
MLB.com
+1
2026 Pitching Performance Trends (as of April 21, 2026)
Record: The team has struggled out of the gate with a 9-15 record.
Key Stats: The staff ranks near the bottom of the league in walks allowed (BB%), zone percentage, and first-pitch strikes.”
maybe Paredes finally figured it out
We had some solid contacts yesterday.
Look at that split between lefties and righties. A+ against RHB. F against lefties.
Wow
Yep. He’s a basketcase against lefties, but somehow got it done.
Do not want to see him starting against the Dodgers, but there ain’t a lot of other options.
He got a D+ for pitch level value. I assume it’s because 8(!) of the 9 hitters in the lineup could bat lefty against him so that F against lefties had more weight than the A+ against Hoskins, the lone righty.
I didn’t see the game, but it seems like with how bad he is against LHB, this was almost like a miracle outcome for Spencer.
It was a nice W, and I even woke up in a good mood this morning.
I while enjoy it while it lasts, because Messick is up tonight, and he’s been sterling so far for the Guardindians.
Key word “so far”
I kept accidentally writing “Don Messick” instead of “Parker Messick” when I was drafting up my preview for today.
Weiss starts today’s game. The good news is that he has been terrific in striking out batters (11.05 K/9) but horrible at issuing walks (6.14 BB/9). It’s obvious that he needs to improve his control. But the K rate indicates that his stuff gives him something to work with.