SEATTLE — Astros right-hander Spencer Arrighetti will wear a cast but not require surgery on his broken right thumb, manager Joe Espada said Wednesday.
Arrighetti was injured when he was hit by a line drive while playing catch in left field before Monday night’s game at Seattle.
“We want to take it one step at a time, but no surgery is great news,” Espada said of the 25-year-old Arrighetti, who was placed on the 15-day IL on Tuesday, retroactive to Monday.
Espada said Arrighetti will be in a cast for up to two-and-a-half weeks. He’ll then have additional testing before starting physical therapy.
“After that, if everything looks fine, we can probably start talking about him starting to play catch,” Espada said. “He was upbeat this morning. I think it’s good news.”
Arrighetti is 1-1 with a 5.59 ERA in two starts this season. He allowed five runs and three hits in 3 2/3 innings during Saturday’s 6-1 loss at Minnesota. The sixth-round pick in the 2021 amateur draft went 7-13 with a 4.53 ERA in 28 starts and one relief appearance as a rookie last season.
The Astros also said right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. is scheduled to make his third rehab start this weekend on the road back from forearm surgery two years ago.
McCullers, who had right forearm surgery in June 2023, is scheduled to start Saturday at Triple-A Sugar Land.
The 31-year-old McCullers hasn’t pitched since Game 3 of the 2022 World Series, when he took the loss against the Philadelphia Phillies. Houston won the series in six games.
McCullers threw two innings and 35 pitches for Triple-A Sugar Land on March 30. He worked 1 2/3 innings for Double-A Corpus Christi on Saturday, allowing four hits, three walks and four runs, two earned, on 50 pitches.
He is 49-32 with a 3.48 ERA in seven seasons, all with Houston.
