CHICAGO -- Spencer Arrighetti’s first start after the All-Star break might have given the Astros some belief he was returning to the form that made him the American League Pitcher of the Month in May.
However, after just one inning and 33 pitches in Houston's 9-5 win over the White Sox on Friday night at Rate Field, that optimism was dashed.
Arrighetti began to warm up to start the second inning when he signaled for a trainer, then exited before throwing another pitch. Right-hander AJ Blubaugh replaced him. The Astros announced that Arrighetti departed with right foot nerve irritation.
Arrighetti first felt the pain between his “third and fourth toe” in his pregame warmup session and he tried to pitch through it. The pain continued in the first inning, where he struggled with command. He issued two walks and hit a pair of batters as the White Sox sent nine batters to the plate in darting out to a three-run lead.
“I got out there for the first, and it bothered me on just about every pitch I threw,” Arrighetti said. “It’s my foot that I push off the mound with, too. So, it just felt like things weren’t coming out right, and I thought I was going to be able to just pitch through it. But I went back out for the second inning to test it out, and it just really, really bothered me.”
Arrighetti walked 10 across nine innings in his last two starts and has a 24.6% walk rate since June 3.
He allowed a single and back-to-back walks to start the game. A two-out single and consecutive hit batters plated another pair of runs. Arrighetti finally escaped the early jam by inducing a popup from White Sox catcher Drew Romo, the No. 9 hitter.
Manager Joe Espada said Arrighetti returned to the Astros’ dugout and mentioned the pain, but he wanted to pitch through it.
“I think that if you talk to any of us [pitchers], we could say that, and usually you write the things off that feel not important. Honestly, I didn’t think a little nerve sensation was going to bother me as much as it did, but I hadn’t felt it prior to today,” Arrighetti said. “I felt it one time when I was getting warm, but I wasn’t really throwing at super high intent, and as soon as I started trying to throw it higher intent, it was really painful.”
Arrighetti had bounced back after a porous June and early July (0-4, 8.74 ERA in seven starts) with five innings of one-run ball in his first start after the All-Star break on Saturday. That all came after he had a 0.93 ERA in five starts in May, en route to taking home the AL Pitcher of the Month Award.