The Yankees and former Astros righty Luis Garcia are in settlement on a minor league contract, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. It’s presumably a two-year minor league pact, as Garcia underwent his second profession Tommy John surgical procedure again in October.
That newest surgical procedure marked one other setback in what’s change into a grueling stretch of accidents. From 2021-22, Garcia appeared to be breaking out as a cornerstone in Houston’s rotation. The 6’1″, 240-pound righty began 28 video games and turned in a mid-3.00s ERA in every of these two seasons, combining for 312 2/3 frames with a 3.60 earned run common, a 25.4% strikeout price and a 7.5% stroll price. Garcia was by no means a flamethrower, averaging 93.6 mph on his four-seamer even in that two-year peak, however he had good command and generated large whiff charges on his cutter, slider and changeup alike, serving to him to an general 13.2% swinging-strike price that sat a pair share factors north of common.
It was extra of the identical to start the 2023 season. Garcia notched a flat 4.00 ERA via his first 5 begins. He punched out 26.4% of his opponents in opposition to an 8.7% stroll price. He leaned extra closely on that cutter, his greatest pitch, via these first 27 innings and posted a career-best 14.5% swinging-strike price.
Garcia’s sixth begin of the 2023 season, nevertheless, lasted just one batter. He left with a coach after eight pitches, citing elbow discomfort. The right-hander was rapidly recognized with a UCL tear and underwent Tommy John surgical procedure in early May. Astros followers braced for an absence of 12 to 14 months — customary observe for UCL reconstructions of this nature. Garcia’s rehab has since confirmed something however customary.
The Astros deemed Garcia “ahead of schedule” in April 2024. He was throwing off a mound about 11 months out from surgical procedure, and issues gave the impression to be monitoring properly. Garcia set out on a minor league rehab stint in June 2024, however the Astros scaled him again after he struggled to get better between begins. Manager Joe Espada famous in July that Garcia’s elbow was a bit sore, and the workforce was continuing with warning. A shutdown of his throwing program lingered into August, and on the nineteenth of that month the workforce announced he wouldn’t return in 2024, as an alternative shifting his focus to the 2025 season.
The following January, the Astros announced that Garcia wouldn’t be prepared for Opening Day. He’d continued throwing however was build up very cautiously following the 2024 setbacks. Two months later, Garcia was shut down with renewed elbow discomfort. He opened the season on the 15-day IL. After receiving a second opinion on his elbow, he was recognized with irritation and shut down for an additional month.
Garcia started one other rehab task in August 2025, greater than two years faraway from his surgical procedure. He lastly returned from the injured checklist in September and rapidly seemed like his outdated self. His first MLB motion in 28 months produced six innings whereby he allowed three runs on simply three hits and no walks with six punchouts. His subsequent begin lasted just one 2/3 innings, and Garcia headed straight again to the IL as a consequence of elbow discomfort. Less than a month after making that return, he underwent Tommy John surgery again.
By the time he’s wholesome sufficient to even be an possibility in 2027, Garcia could have made simply two MLB appearances in a span of practically 4 years. There’s no doubting that he’s a serious league-caliber arm, however that prolonged harm layoff makes him a pure wild card for the Yankees transferring ahead. He’s a pleasant piece to stash for future depth and an intriguing title for Yankees followers to maintain behind their thoughts — even when he gained’t issue into the plans this season.
