Houston Astros Could Lose Another Top Starting Pitcher to Tommy John Surgery

The Houston Astros’ 2024 season is straight out of a nightmare.

The Astros enter Game 1 of the series Monday against the St. Louis Cardinals at 26-34, 7.5 games behind the Seattle Mariners for first place in the American League East. The Astros, who have made seven straight AL Championship Series appearances, are also 7.5 games behind the Minnesota Twins for the third and final AL Wild Card spot.

While there are many areas to point to as the source of the Astros’ struggles, the biggest has been their starting pitching.

The Astros enter this week with a combined rotational earned run average of 4.69, which ranks 26th in all of Major League Baseball. They also saw eight different pitchers start a game.

This problem doesn’t exactly concern the front office, however.

The Astros’ starting rotation, usually one of the team’s biggest strengths, has been ravaged by injuries throughout the season.

Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis Garcia have yet to pitch this season after major arm surgeries. Framber Valdez and Justin Verlander each missed the majority of April, recovering from their own arm injuries. Ronel Blanco, who threw the only no-hitter of the season so far, has been suspended for 10 games for violating MLB’s banned substances policy.

Recently, Cristian Javier had to interrupt his throwing progression due to forearm discomfort. And on Monday, the Astros received even more bad news regarding one of their best pitchers who has yet to pitch this season.

ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez reported Monday that right-handed pitcher José Urquidy could be headed for Tommy John surgery. Urquidy, who has been dealing with forearm discomfort since being injured during spring training, will soon meet with Dr. Keith Meister, and he is expected to recommend surgery to Tommy John.

Urquidy, 29, was close to returning to action after suffering a forearm strain in the spring. However, he was removed at the start of his latest rehab on May 24 and now appears to be headed for what would be his second Tommy John surgery.

Urquidy underwent his first Tommy John surgery in 2017 and made his MLB debut two years later with the Astros. In five seasons with Houston, Urquidy has a career 3.98 ERA over 405 innings pitched.

Urquidy missed most of the 2023 season with a shoulder injury – pitching just 63 innings and sporting a 5.29 ERA – but was one of the team’s best starting pitchers in 2022, when he had a 3.94 ERA in 164.1 innings.

Unfortunately, things are going south for Urquidy, and he now faces what would be a second Tommy John surgery and a long time away from baseball. Pitchers typically need 12 to 18 months to return from a second Tommy John surgery, and with that timeline, there’s a chance Urquidy could miss the rest of 2024 and most or all of the 2025 season .

Urquidy enters his final year of arbitration eligibility this offseason before becoming a free agent in 2026.