Astros Receive Less Than Ideal News On Luis Garcia's Elbow Injury

The Houston Astros have received some bad news on a pitcher they hoped to get back this season.

As first reported by Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, starter Luis Garcia received an MRI and it did not come back clean. It revealed inflammation in his surgically repaired right elbow and the Astros are shutting him down from throwing, leaving Garcia to be reevaluated four weeks from now.

The 28-year-old missed the entire 2024 season after missing the bulk of the 2023 campaign following Tommy John surgery in May after he made just six starts.

With Garcia throwing this winter and in spring training, there was some hope that he could return at some point this season despite not being ready for the start of the year.

While he has not been ruled out by any means, things are not trending in the right direction for him to make starts for Houston in 2025.

If the prognosis a month from now is positive, then he could wind up back on the mound.

That looks far from a guarantee, though.

In Garcia's last full season in 2022, he pitched to a 3.72 ERA over 28 starts with a WHIP of 1.131 with 157 strikeouts in 157.1 innings. During the six starts he made in 2023, he posted a 4.00 ERA and was striking out batters at a higher rate than the rest of his career, fanning 31 in 27 innings.

Originally making his debut in 2020, Garcia first became a feature in the team's starting rotation during the 2021 season.

He has a career ERA of 3.61 and WHIP of 1.159, racking up 364 strikeouts in 352 innings pitched.