Starting pitcher Spencer Arrighetti has returned after the Houston Astros activated him from the IL on Wednesday, and optioned 25-year-old righty AJ Blubaugh back to Triple-A. Considering the move the Astros weren't able to make at the MLB trade deadline, Arrighetti's return to the Astros' rotation does carry some added importance between now and the end of the season.
During the closing hours of the deadline, the Astros were desperately trying to pry Dylan Cease away from the San Diego Padres. There was a point before the deadline where it seemed like a lock that Cease would be pitching for the Astros during the final two months of the season, but after the Padres' wild deadline that saw them push their 2025 chips to the middle of the table, trading Cease wasn't the lock it once was believed to be.