It's been a long, long time since the Houston Astros have watched Luis Garcia set foot on a big league mound. After finishing second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2021, the club believed they had a rotation building block on their hands.
He followed up the impressive rookie campaign with a solid 2022 season, logging 157.1 innings and posting a 3.72 ERA. Another leap, and he could have ascended to stardom. Instead, six starts into the 2023 season, he went down with an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery. The initial prognosis was 12-18 months, but setback after setback has made his path back to the majors much more winding.