Talented Starting Pitcher Named Best Houston Astros Player Under 25 Years Old

After a disappointing season by their standards, the Houston Astros will be looking to have a strong offseason and keep their title window open. 

The Astros saw their streak of making the American League Championship Series snapped in 2024, as the Detroit Tigers were able to eliminate them in the Wild Card Round. 

A slow start to the season really held Houston back this season, as despite being very good in the second half of the season, they were unable to get a bye into the American League Division Series. 

With the Wild Card Round always being chaotic, with it being just a three-game series, the Astros were unable to emerge victorious. 

While the season might have been considered a failure by the franchise's lofty expectations, there were a lot of positives to take away from the campaign. One of the main positives was the emergence of some new pitchers, who look like they could be a big part of the future. 

The Astros don’t quite have the farm system and top prospects from years ago, but they did see starting pitcher Spencer Arrighetti. Recently, Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report named the young right-hander as the best player in Houston under 25 years old. 

"The No. 3 prospect in a thin Houston farm system at the start of the 2024 season, Spencer Arrighetti made his MLB debut on April 10 and provided some welcome support to an injury-plagued rotation. He took his lumps early on, but hit his stride as the weather warmed up, posting a 2.68 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 65 strikeouts in 50.1 innings during an eight-start stretch from mid-July through the end of August. His 171 strikeouts trailed only Chicago Cubs left-hander Shōta Imanaga (174) among all rookie pitchers."

It wasn’t a perfect season for the 24-year-old, as he got off to a very slow start to the campaign. However, the Astros helped make some improvements to his pitch selection, and it really turned things around. 

Even though he had a 3-6 record in the second half of the season, the right-hander's ERA was a very good 3.18 compared to a 5.63 ERA in the first half. 

The strong second half of the season for Arrighetti should help solidify a role for him in the rotation going into 2025, as the youngster finally might be reaching his potential. 

Due to the Astros having some injury concerns and upcoming free agents like Justin Verlander this offseason in their starting rotation, the development of Arrighetti was very good for the franchise in the second half of the campaign.