Astros avoid obvious Spencer Arrighetti start vs. Mariners and it's hard to justify

Spencer Arrighetti was left off the Houston Astros Opening Day roster, and despite a great start to the minor league season, will not take the mound this weekend in Seattle. Instead, the right-hander tossed six innings for the Sugar Land Space Cowboys on Thursday and looked good doing it.

Arrighetti struck out seven batters over six innings and allowed two runs on four hits. The start at Triple-A was his third of the season, and he now owns a sparkling 1.26 ERA through 14⅓ innings and has 20 strikeouts on the early season.

Astros pause Spencer Arrighetti's return despite success vs. Mariners

But one look at Arrighetti's start against the Seattle Mariners in 2024 should've prompted Houston to add him to the active roster ahead of the team's trip to the Emerald City. The Astros chose to add J.P. France over Arrighetti, which should raise a few eyebrows given some intriguing numbers.

At the moment, Tatsuya Imai is slated to get the ball on Friday with Lance McCullers Jr. toeing the rubber on Saturday. Houston has yet to announce a starter for Sunday or Monday. France has made three relief appearances and isn't stretched out, so unless the Astros plan to use him as an opener and go with a bullpen game — something that seems unadvisable — this decision is questionable.

Furthermore, Arrighetti's lone start against the Mariners was arguably the best of his career. On May 30, 2024, Arrighetti shut down the Mariners' bats in Seattle. He went six strong, allowed just two hits, and struck out eight Mariners' hitters. Though he walked three and hit another batter, Arrighetti didn't allow a single runner to dent the plate.

But it would seem that Houston preferred to give Arrighetti at least one more tune-up ahead of his 2026 debut. Astros fans should probably look for him to return next week when Houston returns to Daikin Park to face the Colorado Rockies.

As for the upcoming series against the Mariners, Houston's rotation has to figure out a way to keep runs off the board. The Astros pitching staff as a whole has been horrendous, and the cavernous dimensions of T-Mobile Park may not allow many balls to leave the yard, but the expansive outfield can quickly turn singles into doubles, and doubles into triples. The Astros, as they've done throughout the early-going, may need to rely on their bats this weekend.