Major League Baseball forced Garcia to change his windup this offseason, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.
Garcia used a rocking motion with his arms during his windup in past seasons, but he has been forced to eliminate that as the league institutes a crackdown on deliveries that would be balks according to the letter of the rulebook. As a result, he shortened his windup and made it more compact. Garcia's results in the Cactus League have been positive to this point, as he's allowed only one earned run across five innings while maintaining a 5:1 K:BB.
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Astros' Luis Garcia: Ends regular season on high note
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Garcia (15-8) earned the win Sunday, allowing one run on three hits and one walk over six innings with four strikeouts in a 3-1 win over the Rays.
In what was likely his last appearance of the regular season, Garcia allowed one run over six innings, marking the first time he has thrown consecutive quality starts since June 4. The only damage came via a leadoff double followed by an RBI single in the top of the second inning, as he held the Rays to just two other baserunners on the afternoon. After a breakout campaign in 2021 when he recorded 11 wins with a 3.48 ERA over 155.1 innings, the 25-year-old has followed it up with 15 wins and a 3.72 ERA over 157.1 innings in 2022.
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Astros' Luis Garcia: Cruises against Diamondbacks
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Garcia (14-8) earned the win Tuesday, allowing one run on four hits and no walks over six innings against the Diamondbacks. He struck out six.
Garcia cruised to victory Tuesday, as the only damage on the night came via a Geraldo Perdomo solo home run in the third inning. The effort was Garcia's third quality start and second start without allowing a walk over 11 outings in the second half. He has a 3.81 ERA through 151.1 innings this season, just four innings shy of the innings mark he recorded in 2021. It is unclear whether the Astros will keep Garcia in the rotation, as they are likely closely monitoring his innings as they head into the playoffs.
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Astros' Luis Garcia: Starting Tuesday vs. Arizona
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Garcia will start Tuesday's game against the Diamondbacks, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.
Lance McCullers was scratched from his scheduled start with an illness. While Garcia is making the start as a fill-in, he is well rested, having not pitched since he threw five scoreless innings Sept. 19 in Tampa Bay.
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Astros' Luis Garcia: Available in relief
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Garcia is available out of the bullpen Sunday against the Orioles, Julia Morales of AT&T SportsNet Southwest reports.
He's not scheduled to start any of the Astros' next three games despite having not pitched since last Monday, so it Houston looks to be prepping Garcia for a relief role he may occupy during the postseason. Another quality starter, Hunter Brown, is also working out of this loaded Astros bullpen.
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Astros' Luis Garcia: Status unclear
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Garcia is not listed as a starter for next week's series against the Diamondbacks, Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle reports.
He last pitched Monday, throwing five scoreless frames in Tampa Bay, so Garcia would line up to start either Sunday in Baltimore or in next week's series against the Diamondbacks, so the fact he is not the probable pitcher in any of those three games is a bit of a red flag. It would seem that Garcia is either not 100 percent healthy or that he is just getting a break after totaling 145.1 innings thus far this season. He may also have been moved to the bullpen, and it would not be surprising to see him pitch in relief at some point over the next few days.
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Astros' Luis Garcia: Tosses five scoreless frames
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Garcia (13-8) earned the win over Tampa Bay on Monday, allowing two hits and four walks while striking out four batters over five innings.
Garcia tied a season high by issuing four free passes, but he surrendered only two hits to cancel out the lack of control. The right-hander completed five innings for the 15th straight outing and has thrown less than that only three times over 26 starts this season. Perhaps the only disappointment is that Garcia's wildness resulted in a moderately high pitch count that kept him from going six frames and notching a quality start, which has been a pattern for him of late -- he has only one quality start over his past five appearances. Nonetheless, he's 4-0 over that span while posting a 3.82 ERA and 30:13 K:BB across 33 innings.
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Astros' Luis Garcia: Throws five innings in win
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Garcia (12-8) earned the win Sunday, allowing three runs on eight hits and no walks over five innings against the Angels. He struck out four.
Despite making a couple of mistakes with home runs off the bats of Andrew Velazquez and Shohei Ohtani, Garcia earned the win as the Astros scored 12 runs on the day. The win was his 12th of the season and fourth in his last five starts. Despite the recent wins, Garcia has not been at his best in the second half, as he owns a 4.87 ERA in 46.2 innings since the All-Star break after delivering a 3.65 ERA in the first half.
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Astros' Luis Garcia: Goes toe-to-toe with Ohtani
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Garcia didn't factor in the decision against the Angels on Saturday, allowing one run on three hits and two walks while striking out seven batters over seven innings.
Garcia and the Astros held a 1-0 lead over opposing starter Shohei Ohtani through six innings, but Los Angeles tied the score on a single, walk and sacrifice fly in the seventh. That was the only run Garcia gave up in the contest, but it was enough to prevent him from picking up his fourth straight win. Despite the no-decision, it was the right-hander's first quality start in over a month and the first time he's surrendered less than two runs since a July 12 outing against the Angels. Garcia has recorded a 3.99 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 139:42 K:BB over 135.1 innings on the campaign.
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Astros' Luis Garcia: Notches 11th victory
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Garcia (11-8) earned the win over Minnesota on Thursday, tossing five innings and allowing three runs on five hits and one walk while striking out five batters.
Garcia fell behind early when he served up a first-inning home run to Jorge Polanco, but the Astros responded with four runs in the bottom of the frame and never again trailed. Garcia wasn't dominant, but he hung on to complete five innings and register his third straight victory. This outing was typical of how he's pitched during the modest win streak, as he's posted an unsavory 5.63 ERA and 1.69 WHIP over that stretch. Nonetheless, he's finding a way to get things done, and he already has as many victories through 23 appearances this season as he had in 30 outings last year.
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Astros' Luis Garcia: Mediocre in win
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Garcia (10-8) allowed three earned runs on seven hits and four walks while striking out four across five innings to earn the win Thursday against the White Sox.
Garcia was gifted 10 runs of support from the Astros offense to earn his 10th win of the season. However, it was a forgettable outing, and he has now allowed three or more runs in five consecutive starts -- good for a 5.46 ERA in that span. The outing also inflated Garcia's ERA to 4.09 on the campaign, though he still has an impressive 127:39 K:BB across 123.1 frames.
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Astros' Luis Garcia: Tagged for four runs in win
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Garcia (9-8) gave up four earned runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out six over six-plus innings to earn the win in a 7-5 victory over the Athletics on Friday.
Garcia came into the game coming off three straight losses, but he did enough against the Athletics to regain a winning record. One of the four earned runs he surrendered came on a balk with the bases loaded. Garcia had spontaneously modified his elaborate windup and was called for the violation by the third base umpire. He was also responsible for two more runs, which came in to score after he was pulled at 97 pitches with two runners on and nobody out in the seventh. Garcia has an ERA of 5.16 over his past five starts. The 25-year-old right-hander will look to right the ship in his next expected outing at the White Sox next week.
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Astros' Luis Garcia: Gives up four in loss
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Garcia (8-8) gave up four earned runs on nine hits and a walk while striking out five over six innings to take the loss in a 4-1 defeat to the Guardians on Saturday.
All of the trouble came in the first two innings for Garcia, as he gave up four runs before getting six outs. The 25-year-old right-hander then settled into a groove by striking out the side in the third and making it through six without giving up another run. Garcia's ERA has been drifting higher ever since June, and it is now up to 3.93 after he was handed his eighth loss of the season. Garcia will look to reverse this trend in a favorable matchup next week at home against the Athletics.
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Astros' Luis Garcia: Takes another loss Monday
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Garcia (8-7) allowed three runs on six hits and a walk with five strikeouts in seven innings, taking the loss Monday versus the Red Sox.
Garcia had particular trouble with Jarren Duran in this outing -- the Red Sox outfielder plated one with a ground rule double in the third inning and added a two-run home run in the fifth. The Astros' offense wasn't able to overcome that damage, leaving Garcia with his second straight loss. With Jake Odorizzi traded to Atlanta, Garcia gained some job security in the rotation despite having allowed 15 runs in 30 innings across his last five starts. The 25-year-old right-hander has a 3.81 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 112:32 K:BB in 106.1 innings through 19 starts this year. He's tentatively projected for a road start in Cleveland this weekend.
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Astros' Luis Garcia: Gives up grand slam in loss
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Garcia (8-6) allowed four runs on four hits and four walks while striking out seven in 5.2 innings, taking the loss Tuesday versus the Athletics.
Five of the eight baserunners Garcia allowed came in the third inning, and Chad Pinder tagged him for a grand slam in that frame. This was the 17th homer allowed by Garcia in 18 starts this year -- he allowed 19 long balls in 30 outings last year. Despite the extra trouble with homers, the right-hander has a solid 3.81 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 107:31 K:BB through 99.1 innings this year. He's tentatively on track for a home start versus the slumping Red Sox next week, though it's possible Garcia moves up a day if Jake Odorizzi (finger) can't make his next scheduled start versus Seattle.
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Astros' Luis Garcia: Excellent in no-decision
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Garcia allowed a run on one hit and three walks while striking out seven over six innings in a no-decision versus the Angels on Tuesday.
Garcia probably deserved a win Tuesday, but Phil Maton and Rafael Montero allowed the Angels to pull even in the seventh inning. With the no-decision, Garcia's four-start win streak came to an end despite a quality start in one of his best outings of the season. The right-hander has a 3.65 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 94:25 K:BB through 88.2 innings in 16 outings overall. With the Astros currently using a six-man rotation, this was likely Garcia's last start before the All-Star break.
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Astros' Luis Garcia: Yields five runs in win
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Garcia (7-5) allowed five runs on eight hits and a walk with seven strikeouts in 6.1 innings, earning the win Tuesday over the Royals.
Garcia yielded a pair of home runs in the contest, making this the fourth time he's allowed multiple homers in a start this year. The five runs against also matched a season high. Despite the shaky pitching, he threw only 88 pitches (61 strikes), making this a fairly efficient start compared to the 101 pitches he threw in 5.1 innings versus the Yankees last week. Garcia saw his ERA tick up to 3.81 with a 1.09 WHIP and 87:22 K:BB across 82.2 innings overall. He's projected for a road start versus the Angels next week, which may be his final start of the first half if the Astros stick with a six-man rotation.
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Astros' Luis Garcia: Earns sixth win
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Garcia (6-5) allowed one earned run on three hits and two walks while striking out six across 5.1 innings to earn the win Thursday against the Yankees.
Garcia threw a season-high 101 pitches and impressively shut down one of the most dangerous lineups in the league. The lone run against him came on a solo home run by Anthony Rizzo, but he otherwise limited the Yankees to a pair of singles. Garcia has maintained an impressive 35:7 K:BB across his last six starts, and he has earned the win in each of his last three outings. Overall, he has a 3.54 ERA across 76.1 innings on the season.
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Astros' Luis Garcia: Robbed of two-start week
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The Astros elected to push Garcia back in their pitching schedule, with the right-hander now in line to make his next start Thursday against the Yankees in Houston rather than Tuesday against the Mets in New York, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.
Though Garcia will be trading a road start for a home start, fantasy managers likely would have preferred that the 25-year-old stayed on the schedule for Tuesday, as he would have lined up for a two-start week. The two step is now likely to fall to Framber Valdez, who will take the hill for the series opener versus the Mets.
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Astros' Luis Garcia: Secures fifth victory
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Garcia (5-5) earned the win Wednesday against the Mets after giving up three runs on six hits with five strikeouts and one walk over five innings.
The 25-year-old held New York to one run through five frames, but he returned for the sixth inning and was lifted after allowing the first three batters to reach base, two of which came around to score. Despite the late struggles, it was another solid outing for Garcia, who has a 14:1 K:BB while picking up wins in each of his past two outings. The right-hander tentatively lines up for a rematch with the Mets on the road next week.
