Spencer Arrighetti will be a really really good pitcher

Where was spaghetti on the prospect list before the season?

 

He’s got young Tim Lincecum type swag to him

 

Spaghetti, Kikuchi, and Whitley out of the bullpen in the playoffs is going to be a strikeout fest.

 

Does JV have to start in the postseason? Maybe they should make room for Arrighetti.

 

Spaghetti has to be one of the starters for the playoffs, but how do you bring that up to JV? Framber, Brown, and Kikuchi has to start also.

 

I think it’d be hilarious if Houston spent their entire season scrambling to backfill SP injuries only to make the playoffs and have “too many” starting pitchers.

 

It'll likely be Framber, JV, Brown, and Kikuchi...but it's going to be hard to say that Spaghetti doesn't get a start. In a 7 game series, there's no hard and fast rule that says you plan on 5 starters. I know you want the extra pen arm, but you'll have Spaghetti for game 5 or a long run earlier, along with Blanco. Then have Ort, King, Neris, Press, Abreu, Hader for your pen.

We've gone from a thin rotation to possibly the deepest in baseball.

Based on where we stand right now, Urquidy, McCullers and Garcia are trade bait. I'd give Framber an extension and re-sign Kikuchi, with Brown, Spaghetti, and Blanco following them up. There's enough depth in the minors to back them up...especially if JP comes back healthy. They could re-sign JV but only if it made sense financially to the team.

 

It’s like an Oswalt McCullers mash up

 

Urquidy is a non-tender. McCullers has no trade value until he’s healthy. Garcia has very little trade value until he’s healthy. They need to keep what they’ve got and add 1 veteran on a short term deal. If they get to July of next year and have 8-9 guys healthy then they can think about trading guys away.

 

Isn’t there a roster cutoff so would Whitley qualify?

 

As long as he's on the 40 man by 8/31, which he is, he qualifies.

 

Dude was basically Astros Cole in August.

 

You can never have too much starting pitching.

 

Does Kikuchi have to start? Would you try a Verlander/Kikuchi tandem? Verlander 4 or 5 inning limit to keep him fresh. Kikuchi comes in after. Depending on score, keep Kikuchi in the 9th or bring Hader in.

 

Arrighettis potential looks so high right now.

Him and Hunter Brown looks like a potential amazing set for the next 4 seasons. I still feel good about Garcia also despite him not being able to get back this season.

Good pitching can cover for a ton of roster issues.

 

Astros have 6 pitchers that would have a legit case to be playoff starters right now. If Spaghetti stays anywhere near this level, I don’t see how he’s not one of your 3.

Tough decision if we get there.

 

Going with a 6 man rotation is going to keep the Arms fresh going into the playoffs.

I know everyone has their favorites to be the top 3 guys in a playoff series. But the beauty of having 6 reliable starters, is that everyone is on a short leash, hence if anyone has a hiccup, you bring in the starter in waiting each game.

Valdez, Blanco, Verlander are likely the starters. As Hunter, Arrighetti, and Kukuchi figure to be the strike out guys that can bring the heat in case there is any signs of trouble.

But I am very impressed with the progress of Arrighetti.