It was announced that Spencer Arrighetti was going to be added to the Astros 26-man Roster today and would be starting tonight's game.
Let me say WELCOME to the show Spencer Arrighetti!! I think you are going to love this article.
Disclaimer: This will be more opinion based on projections from minor league data. That is a very tough thing to do. Not all players make the jump we expect them to.
The Astros are besieged by pitching injuries. The have brought is a series of stop gaps just to give them a day or two. THIS call up will be different. Why?
Arrighetti was named the 2023 Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
Arrighetti is the Astros only pitching prospect that scouts believe is truly ready to compete effectively in the MLB (grade 50+) NOW.
Let's get to know Spencer Arrighetti. Data from Mlb.com, Baseballreference.com, and fangraphs.com
Age- 24.3- Born 1/2/00
Spencer is the first 21st century Astros player. He is the youngest Astro. Wow I am old.
High School: Cinco Ranch HS (Katy, TX)
Schools: Navarro College (Corsicana, TX), Texas Christian University (Fort Worth, TX), University of Louisiana at Lafayette (Lafayette, LA)
Drafted/ Signed- 6th round of 2021 draft by Houston Astros
Was added to the 40-man roster Today (4/10/24) (He would have been eligible for the Rule 5 draft)
Options: 3
Service Time: 0.000
I will let you read the professional scout take from MLB Pipeline here.
Prospect Ratings/ Profiles
Fangraphs-
Interesting Fangraphs article- read this!
"What I learned about the 6-foot-1, 205-pound righty from our postgame conversation is that he is anything but old school with how he approaches his craft. Analytics is Arrighetti’s second language, and when it comes to talking pitching, they are pretty much his first language."
MiLB Stats
Here are Spencer Arrighetti's stats from AAA last year.
You may think well that is not very good. Understand that the average ERA in the Pacific Coast League last year was 5.69. Arrighetti's 4.64 ERA is very good in that context.
The table to the left is the 50 PCL Pitchers who pitched more than 60 innings and started more than 5 games in 2023.
Arrighetti is 15th on this list sorted by FIP. For comparison, Blanco is 10th in FIP.
Arrighetti is 10th on the list when sorted by ERA. Blanco is 2nd.
Why do I give you this data focused on the PCL?
Comparing to the park effects of the PCL is probably the best way to understand how effective Arrighetti will be.
We can't compare directly to the MLB because the run environment of the PCL is so skewed.
We did this same sort of analysis when J.P. France came up to give us optimism for him.
Arrighetti's MiLB Career Data
Spencer has done well at every level and progressed rapidly through the system.
Arrighetti is projected to be a 4.88 FIP/ 4.71 ERA pitcher. Remember, he has been better than average all last year at both AA and AAA and was off to a really strong start in 2024.
Folks, listen to me now and hear me later. You are going to enjoy Spencer Arrighetti. Give him grace to have challenges.
Get Ready for Arrighetti Day!
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You also said we were also going to enjoy JP France (and we did) so I have high hopes for Arrighetti.