The Houston Astros have had a starting pitcher leave a game with an injury for the second straight night. Righty Luis Garcia exited Monday night's game with the San Francisco Giants (GameTracker) after throwing only eight pitches. Fellow righty José Urquidy exited Sunday night's 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies with a shoulder injury. He was placed on the injured list Monday.
Garcia's final pitch was an 82.9 mph cutter, a bit south of his 85.4 mph season average. He threw his final pitch, huddled with his teammates on the mound, then called for the trainer and exited the game.
The Astros have not yet announced an update on their young right-hander. For what it's worth, Garcia has never been on the injured list in his career, majors or minors.
Houston is already without Urquidy, who said he "felt something a little bit weak" in his shoulder after exiting Sunday's start, and Lance McCullers Jr. McCullers suffered a forearm strain in spring training and has not pitched this season. He is relatively early in his throwing program and weeks away from rejoining the team.
The Astros' rotation depth chart looks something like this at the moment:
LHP Framber ValdezRHP Cristian JavierRHP Lance McCullers Jr. (forearm strain)RHP Luis Garcia (exited Monday's tart with an injury)RHP José Urquidy (shoulder discomfort)RHP Hunter BrownRHP Forrest Whitley?Entering play Monday the Astros were one of eight teams to use only five starters this season. That will change with Urquidy on the shelf. Righty Brandon Bielak was called up to fill Urquidy's roster spot and he came out of the bullpen to replace Garcia on Monday. Bielak was stretched out to 75 pitches in Triple-A.
Garcia, 26, has a 4.00 ERA in five starts and 27 innings this season and a 3.61 ERA in 352 career big league innings since 2020. He pitched rather effectively for his native Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic this spring.
The Astros entered Monday with a 15-13 record and two games behind the Texas Rangers in the AL West. They have allowed 3.79 runs per game, sixth fewest in baseball.
