KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Amid a slew of injuries to their starting rotation, the Astros are promoting top pitching prospect Spencer Arrighetti to make his major-league debut on Wednesday against the Kansas City Royals, manager Joe Espada said after Tuesday’s 4-3 loss.
Arrighetti will take the rotation spot of Framber Valdez, who went on the injured list Tuesday with what Espada described as “left elbow inflammation.”
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“We’ve gone through our pitching here in the last week and we want to make sure we protect some of these guys,” Espada said. “Having Arrighetti will allow us to push everyone back a day and protect some of our young starters that we’re going to need for a long season.”
Hunter Brown, Wednesday’s original scheduled starter, will now start Thursday’s series finale against the Royals. J.P. France will go on Friday against the Texas Rangers at Minute Maid Park. Wednesday’s game will be the sixth in a stretch of 13 consecutive games for the Astros — another impetus for this move.
Valdez felt discomfort in his elbow during a game of catch on Sunday and was scratched from his scheduled start on Monday. He traveled back to Houston for examination by team doctors and was unavailable for comment before Tuesday’s game against the Royals.
Valdez is the fifth Astros starter to land on the injured list this season, joining Justin Verlander, Luis Garcia, Lance McCullers Jr. and José Urquidy. Verlander (shoulder) is scheduled to make one more minor-league rehab start this weekend before possibly returning to the major-league rotation, Urquidy is still recovering from a forearm strain and neither Garcia nor McCullers are expected back until after the All-Star break.
Arrighetti last pitched in Triple-A Sugar Land on April 4, meaning he’d be on full rest to make his debut on Wednesday.
Arrighetti, 24, has a 2.16 ERA across his first two starts in Triple-A Sugar Land. Houston named him the organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2023, a season in which he posted a 4.40 ERA in 124 ⅔ innings between Double-A Corpus Christi and Sugar Land.
The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked Arrighetti as the Astros’ fourth-best prospect before the season and he is widely considered the team’s best pitching prospect. Houston selected him in the sixth round of the 2021 draft.
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