Freak injury strikes Astros' already depleted starting rotation

The Houston Astros' pitching staff was already getting tested early this season. After an offseason where Houston lost both Yusei Kikuchi and Justin Verlander, the team only added one rotation arm in Hayden Wesneski. With Luis Garcia suffering a major setback in his recovery, the Astros' gambit that arrivals from the injured list would provide reinforcement wasn't looking good.

Add in some early struggles from Ronel Blanco and a lack of obvious help from the minors and you have a recipe for disaster. It would only take one more injury to cause a serious problem. Unfortunately for Houston, one such injury would indeed occur.

While playing catch in the outfield before the Astros' matchup against the Mariners on Monday, Spencer Arrighetti got hit by a line drive during batting practice. It did not take long for the team to announce that Arrighetti has a broken thumb and just like that, Houston's nightmare scenario had arrived.

Spencer Arrighetti suffers broken thumb after freak accident during warmups

While an injury to Framber Valdez or Hunter Brown would be worse from a competitive perspective, losing Arrighetti at this moment in time is still brutal. Arrighetti wasn't off to a great start this season (5.59 ERA in two starts), but he was still a valuable source of innings and was coming off a pretty good rookie season in 2024.

Given that the thumb injury is to his throwing hand, a stint on the injured list is almost a certainty. What we don't know is how long he will be out. Breaks to small bones can heal reasonably quickly, but he would definitely need to make a couple rehab starts after it heals up and that is only if the break is relatively minor and he can avoid surgery.

As for where the Astros go from here, expect Houston to immediately start exploring the trade market for spare arms immediately. There is a chance that prospect AJ Blubaugh gets an opportunity as a result of this given he is already at Triple-A, but we will know more about Houston's plans once the severity of Arrighetti's injury becomes clear.

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