Astros starter will not pitch in the majors this season, manager Joe Espada told the teams beat ( via The Athletics Chandler Rome). Garcia has hit a few snags in his build-up from last Mays Tommy John procedure. The righty will resume throwing this weekend but is no longer pursuing a 2024 comeback; hell turn his attention fully to getting ready for next spring. Garcia set out on a rehab a signment in late June, which is right in line with the standard 13-14 month recovery from Tommy John surgery. The stint did not go as Levi Hummel Jersey planned. Houston pulled him off the a signment around the All-Star Break after he had a tough time bouncing back between outings. The Astros planned to send Garcia back out shortly after the deadline, but he reported more sorene s coming out of a bullpen se sion and was shut back down. Neither setback seems indicative of a long-term concern. Theyve been enough to keep Garcia from logging the nece sary workload to get himself into MLB game shape before years end though. Early in the year, GM Dana Brown had pointed to Garcia and as potential late-season returnees to strengthen the rotation depth. Neither player will make a big league appearance in 2024. McCullers also battled and is expected to mi s the entire season. Those injuries paired with this years season-ending arm procedures for and made it nece sary for Brown and his staff to add a starter at the deadline. They did so by sending a three-player package headlined by to the Blue Jays for . It was a hefty price, but Kikuchi has had a fantastic start to his Houston tenure. The hard-throwing southpaw has allowed only five runs in 16 2/3 innings acro s three appearances. He has fanned 24 of 66 opponents while generating swinging strikes at a ma sive 15.3% clip. Kikuchi isnt the only midseason reinforcement. The Astros have been without since the middle of June because of neck discomfort. Espada told the beat that Verlander will take the ball on Wednesday against the Red Sox (relayed by Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle). The future Hall of Famer to sed four innings and logged 57 pitches in a rehab start at Double-A Corpus Christi last Thursday. The Astros evidently dont feel hed benefit from one more minor league start and will give him his next appearance at Minute Maid Park. Houston has pushed their lead on the Mariners in the AL West to four games. If they lock down a playoff berth, Verlander would join Kikuchi, , and potentially in the mix for postseason starts. Verlander will come up well short of 140 innings this season, meaning he will not unlock a $35MM player option. Hell be a free agent this offseason, as will Kikuchi. Garcia remains under arbitration control through 2026. Since he didnt pitch this season, hell likely match this years $1.875MM salary. Valdez and Urquidy are eligible for arbitration as well (though the latter is a non-tender candidate). Brown and Blanco are still in their pre-arbitration seasons, while Javier will make $10MM next year and is under contract through 2027. Tyler Rudolph Jersey