Houston Astros Starter Luis Garcia To Undergo Second Tommy John Surgery

As tough a loss as it is for Houston, it's even more devastating for Garcia. The right-hander got off to a promising start to his young career, throwing 155.1 innings with a 3.48 ERA and 9.7 K/9 to finish second in the Rookie of the Year voting in 2021.

The next season, he had cemented himself in the rotation, throwing 157.1 innings with a 3.72 ERA and a brilliant ALDS Game 3 performance on the way to winning a World Series. Garcia had become as steady and reliable as anyone in the Astros rotation.

Then injury struck after six starts in 2023. He was striking more batters out than ever (10.3 K/9), but ultimately had to undergo Tommy John, which caused him to miss the rest of 2023. He attempted to rehab in 2024, but ultimately threw 2.1 innings of four-run ball in June and July, and he shut it down from there.

Garcia worked hard to come back in 2025. It had been two years since he pitched at the big league level and after nine rehab appearances throughout the minors, he returned on September 1. It had been 854 days since his last appearance and he six innings, allowing three earned runs and striking out six.

In his second start, he was pulled after 1.2 innings with elbow discomfort and now has officially had Tommy John surgery for a second time. A once-promising young starter is set to not pitch a full season for the fourth straight year due to injury.

Garcia was in his second year of arbitration and made $1.875 million this season and has one year of team control left, according to McTaggart. He is also someone who could be non-tendered.

The Astros have already seen Hayden Wesneski, Ronel Blanco and Brandon Walter need Tommy John this year.

Garcia will now face one of the biggest obstacles for starting pitchers in returning from a second Tommy John. It's not the death sentence it used to be, but Garcia will not have pitched in a long time when he begins rehabbing. Unfortunately, the road back will be even harder.