Javier, Urquidy to have elbow surgery, miss rest of season

HOUSTON -- Astros starting pitchers José Urquidy and Cristian Javier will each undergo right elbow surgery and will miss the rest of the 2024 season, general manager Dana Brown announced Wednesday.

Urquidy’s surgery is scheduled for Wednesday, while Javier will undergo surgery on Thursday.

The club is not yet categorizing the procedures as “Tommy John” surgery, which involves replacing the ulnar collateral ligament with a tendon in another part of the body. But as is the case with most pitchers with similar predicaments, Tommy John is the likely outcome.

“Right now, they’re both having elbow surgeries,” Brown said. “We're not sure the extent of it. But Tommy John's certainly possible.”

Urquidy, who has been on the injured list since suffering a right forearm strain during Spring Training, made three rehab starts in his effort to rejoin the Astros, but he was pulled from his most recent outing at Triple-A on May 24 after experiencing discomfort in his right forearm. Brown said earlier this week that Urquidy was getting a second opinion on his right elbow.

This will be Urquidy’s second elbow procedure. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2017, two years before he made his MLB debut in 2019.

Javier made seven starts and pitched to a 3.89 ERA across 34 2/3 innings this season before he was placed on the injured list May 27, retroactive to May 24, due to right forearm discomfort.

Manager Joe Espada said he has communicated with both pitchers via text.

“It sucks,” Espada said. “I told them they’re in my prayers and how much they mean to this club to me personally as individuals. They're two incredible humans. I wish them the best.”

Rumors had been swirling for the past couple of days that surgery was likely for both pitchers, so Wednesday’s announcement wasn’t all that surprising. But being prepared for the news did little to soften the blow of losing two key pitchers for the long term, especially in the middle of a season that has started uncharacteristically slow for a team that is accustomed to winning.

“These injuries, they happen,” Brown said. “These guys have pitched a lot, and I've been saying for a long time -- the 97 extra games from these last seven years, going to the (ALCS) seven times, at some point, it takes its toll on your players.”

Depth will continue to be an issue, beyond the starting five of Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez, Ronel Blanco, Hunter Brown and Spencer Arrighetti. Brown mentioned three pitchers who could provide reinforcements in the future: right-hander A.J. Blubaugh and lefty Colton Gordon, both of whom have made starts at Triple-A Sugar Land this season, and Double-A right-hander Jake Bloss.

Blubaugh has a 1.42 WHIP and 4.00 ERA in 10 games (9 starts) for Sugar Land. Gordon has appeared in seven games (six starts), pitching to a 4.35 ERA with a 1.55 WHIP over 31 innings.

Brown noted that the Astros rotation has stabilized over the past few weeks, and he’s encouraged by the gradual improvement, especially from the young pitchers who have gained their footing after a bumpy start to the season.

“We have the young kids stepping up and starting to throw the ball well, so I think our rotation is pretty good right now,” Brown said. “You never want to lose those types of arms. But there's no panic because our guys are really throwing well.”