Two Houston Astros aces have officially undergone season-ending elbow surgeries

A bombshell was dropped by reporters covering the Houston Astros by revealing that two of the most important starting pitchers in that rotation were going to be out for the rest of the year after needing elbow surgery.

Things have remained pretty close to the vest despite speculation that it will be the dreaded Tommy John surgery that will force Cristian Javier and Jose Urquidy out until the end of 2025.

Then, sources revealed that Javier would actually undergo this type of surgery, while Urquidy’s operation was simply described as “elbow surgery.”

NOW, Chandler Rome Athleticism reports that the team officially announced that both right-handers underwent the Tommy John procedure to repair their injured elbows.

Regardless of this designation or not, the result would still be that the Astros would be without two of their contributors for the remainder of this campaign in a year where there is real concern about not making the playoffs.

Without Javier and Urquidy in the mix, Houston only has five starting pitchers on its 40-man roster who have extensive MLB pitching experience, and that includes rookie Spencer Arrighetti and youngster Hunter Brown.

This is a major concern for the future.

They’ll eventually get Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr. back, but due to their extended absences due to their own surgeries, it’s really unclear how they’ll perform when they return to the mound.

That’s one reason why general manager Dana Brown said he’s considering a pitching deal.

From an organizational standpoint, these injuries are extremely disappointing.

Javier signed a 5-year contract worth $64 million until 2023 when he had the worst performance of his career with a 4.56 ERA and a 92 ERA+. He was able to bounce back early, posting a 1.54 ERA in four starts this season before suffering a neck injury that sidelined him before the devastating one.

With him out for more than half of this year and likely all of 2025, this contract looks like a disaster.

Urquidy is a similar situation.

After being a dominant player in the Astros’ rotation, not posting an ERA above 4.00 in four seasons, he missed an extended period in 2023 after being placed on the 60-day injured list. The 29-year-old returned to make 16 outings and 10 starts.

Now he’s in trouble again, raising some questions about the future of this franchise, as he likely won’t be able to play in 2025 in his final year of arbitration.