Spencer Arrighetti says goodbye to Houston Astros and embraces a fresh start with Toronto Blue Jays 15%
By Matt Kawahara11%
8/4/2026, 4:49:56 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 23 faulty reasoning types, including Appeal to Emotion, Post Hoc (False Cause), and Biased Writer Voice, with Optimism Bias as the most egregious example at 16.6% saturation with 148 hits. Analysis detected 877 faulty-reasoning hits from 892 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 23.5% and a BS Rank of 15% (25,919 of 30,213 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 85.80% of the article peer group.
Not until he noticed Joe Espada by the Daikin Park bullpen on Monday afternoon did Spencer Arrighetti start to suspect.
Arrighetti finished throwing, took several steps out of the bullpen gate and was met by his manager, who alerted him as they traversed the field that the Houston Astros were trading the right-hander to the Toronto Blue Jays.
“I was very surprised,” Arrighetti said Tuesday.
“I didn’t know this was even in the realm of possibility.
Obviously, trade deadlines get crazy.
This is the first year out of the three that I’ve been (in the majors) that I actually wasn’t nervous at the trade deadline, so I don’t know, maybe there’s something to that, maybe I should be more worried every year.”
Some 25 hours after Arrighetti took that walk across the field, his expression stoic but head lowered at times, he sat in a press conference room inside the ballpark he’d called home, wearing a new shade of blue and a bird logo on his cap, ready to reflect on — and joke about — a move that dislodged him from more than just an organization.
NO ARMS ADDED: Why Astros didn't trade for pitching before deadline
Arrighetti, 26, played his high school ball at Cinco Ranch in Katy and was drafted in 2021 by the club he grew up supporting.
He debuted for the Astros in 2024, spent parts of three seasons on their pitching staff and, for a six-week span this spring, kept their reeling rotation afloat by performing as one of the best pitchers in the sport.
Then came a two-month downturn, a foot nerve issue, and on Monday the Astros dealt Arrighetti, who compiled a 4.66 ERA over 53 major-league appearances for them, for center fielder Daulton Varsho in a trade meant to bolster their struggling outfield.
For Arrighetti, as he processed the move Monday night, it produced “every emotion there is, all at once.”
“I had this bubble of supreme comfort being in Houston, being from Houston,” Arrighetti said Tuesday.
“My family had the luxury of being at just about every game I’ve ever pitched here.
And that’s probably the hardest part to part with.
“My house is 20 minutes from here, that’s where I’m going to raise my kids.
So Houston will always be home.
And I’m eternally grateful to the people in charge that gave me the opportunity to be an Astro.
“Obviously this move is something that they think will help them win, so there’s some joy in that, too.
I was a fan of the Houston Astros before they drafted me, and I’ll continue to be a fan after the fact.”
Because the Blue Jays were in town to begin a three-game series Monday, both Arrighetti and Varsho joined their new teams immediately.
Arrighetti remains on the injured list, where Houston placed him due to right foot nerve irritation after his July 24 start in Chicago.
But he threw a bullpen Tuesday — on the visitors’ side — with Toronto coaches watching and said he is “ready to pitch.”
The Blue Jays will likely have Arrighetti make a minor-league rehab start later this week.
But he said he told Toronto manager John Schneider in their first meeting Monday he was “ready to go.”
“I told him I’d throw this series if he wanted me to, skip the rehab altogether,” Arrighetti said.
“There’s nothing more that I would like than to face those guys.”
Arrighetti said the latter with a smile.
The Astros and Blue Jays will not meet again this regular season, leaving the possibility at least until next year — barring an unlikely playoff meeting — and allowing both players in the trade some separation after Wednesday.
The proximity until then does allow Arrighetti a chance to connect with former teammates first.
“Things happened really fast (Monday), so I didn’t really get to say all that I wanted to, to everybody,” Arrighetti said.
“But I got to have a good conversation with Hunter (Brown) on the way out.
I talked to (pitching coach) Josh Miller yesterday and kind of just thanked him for all of his time and efforts.
I feel like there’s always going to be things left unsaid when things happen as quickly as they did.”
In his time in Houston, Arrighetti pitched for a 2024 team that won the AL West and carried two no-hit bids into the eighth inning.
He said those were highlights but his fondest memories are “not anything game-related, necessarily, just the relationships I’ve formed.”
He voiced eagerness to strike new ones in a Toronto clubhouse that includes veterans like Max Scherzer and George Springer.
Arrighetti acknowledged the possibility of “some separation anxiety” joining a new organization for the first time.
The stadium now called Daikin Park, he said, “is really where I fell in love with baseball.”
“I’ve played at Rogers Centre (in Toronto) a couple times now and I’m incredibly excited to get there and to represent an entire country and that’s something I’m very proud of, something I’m very excited for,” Arrighetti said.
“So emotion-wise, I mean, it was a little heartbreaking, a little bittersweet, but then so exciting and so nice to turn a fresh page and get to write my story somewhere else.”
Speakers
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Selected voice
76%flagged-word coverageSpencer Arrighetti
470 attributed words100% of attributed speech46% writer coverage
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