Houston Astros Announce Star Pitcher Won't Throw for Team This Season

The Houston Astros got some more tough injury news regarding one of their star pitchers.

Jul 4, 2023; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros pitcher Luis Garcia in the dugout before the game against the Colorado Rockies at Minute Maid Park / Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Coming into this year, the Houston Astros knew they would be undermanned in the first half of their season because of injury issues that some of their pitchers were dealing with and financial constraints that prevented them from adding multiple arms.

With three of their relievers hitting the open market, the Astros decided to just go all in on Josh Hader to solidify the backend of the bullpen.

Some of the thinking behind that move was Houston expected to get Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr. back. They would either slide into the rotation and move someone into a relief role, or those two would become the extra relievers after returning from their injuries that caused them to miss extended periods time.

Unfortunately, things haven't played out that way.

Cristian Javier, Jose Urquidy and J.P. France were all ruled out for the remainder of the season with injuries of their own before either of the two were back in the mix.

Their initial plan was blown up even more when the Astros announced that McCullers Jr. wouldn't appear in a game this year after he suffered a concerning setback that shut down his throwing progression.

Now, per Chandler Rome of The Athletic, manager Joe Espada has revealed that Garcia will also not be making his return to the mound this season.

Luis Garcia will not pitch for the Astros this season, Joe Espada said. Garcia will resume playing catch this weekend, but that is targeted toward getting him ready for 2025.

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) August 19, 2024

As reported, the hope is the extended time ramping up his throwing progression will allow him to recover and be fully healthy and available for 2025.

This is another blow to Houston's pitching staff as they try and win yet another AL West title after coming all the way back from last place early in the year to leading the Seattle Mariners by four games entering Monday.

While it's unknown what level Garcia would be returning at, he still would have provided them another option to use down the stretch of the regular season and potentially into the playoffs.