Might sixth, 2023
SEATTLE — Astros right-hander Luis Garcia will want Tommy John surgical procedure and can miss the rest of the common season, normal supervisor Dana Brown introduced Friday. Garcia left Monday’s game against the Giants after solely eight pitches due to ache in his proper elbow.
The lack of Garcia is a big blow to an Astros rotation that already is thin, with right-hander José Urquidy on the injured record (proper shoulder discomfort) and right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. working his method again from a forearm harm he suffered on Feb. 14. The workforce will activate right-hander J.P. France, who is about to make his Main League debut on Saturday towards the Mariners.
Garcia had posted two consecutive scoreless outings earlier than injuring his elbow Sunday. He made six begins this yr, going 2-2 with a 4.00 ERA with 10 walks and 31 strikeouts.
“That’s an incredible blow,” Astros supervisor Dusty Baker stated after the Astros’ 6-4 win over the Mariners at T-Cellular Park on Friday night time. “I used to be praying it was one thing totally different, one thing minor. … He’s a robust child. He’s in good spirits. Hopefully, France and the opposite younger guys can provide us a elevate.”
Of the 5 pitchers who made at the least 25 begins for the Astros final yr, solely lefty Framber Valdez and right-hander Cristian Javier are at the moment within the Houston rotation. Garcia and Urquidy are injured and Justin Verlander signed with the Mets. McCullers made eight begins on the finish of final season after rehabbing an harm all yr.
Along with Valdez, Javier and France, the Astros’ different wholesome beginning pitchers are rookie Hunter Brown and Brandon Bielak, who will begin Sunday’s sequence finale in solely his ninth Main League begin and first since 2021.
The Astros don’t have a lot Main League-ready pitching depth within the Minor Leagues, both. Two starters at Triple-A Sugar Land who’re on the 40-man roster are coping with accidents. Proper-hander Forrest Whitley has minor soreness in his decelerator muscle (beneath shoulder) and can take a day or two off, in keeping with a supply, and right-hander Shawn Dubin was positioned on the seven-day injured record Friday.
With that in thoughts, the Astros are nearly definitely going to need to make buying a beginning pitcher or two a precedence earlier than the Commerce Deadline, and even earlier than. Nonetheless, Houston starters ranked sixth-best within the Main Leagues in ERA (3.43) coming into Friday.
Garcia has been a workhorse starter for the Astros the previous two years. He’s 28-19 in 69 profession appearances (63 begins) with a 3.61 ERA, making his debut in 2020 when he was known as up from Excessive-A. Final yr, he went 15-8 in 28 begins with a 3.72 ERA within the common season. He threw 5 scoreless innings in aid to shut out the Astros’ 1-0, 18-inning win over the Mariners to clinch the American League Division Collection in Seattle.
In 2021, Garcia was 11-8 in 30 appearances (28 begins) with a 3.48 ERA, ending second within the AL Rookie of the 12 months voting. He threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings in Houston’s 5-0 clinching victory in Recreation 6 of the AL Championship Collection.
