Astros Need to Shut Down Ronel Blanco. Right Now.

It was last season when Luis Garcia was attempting to return from Tommy John surgery. The Astros were banking on his return so much they didn't bother to reinforce the pitching staff, something now-former Astros GM Dana Brown would express regret over.

Luis Garcia was pitching, but his velocity was notably down. The team played it off as normal, and that he would continue to work and build his velocity. That wasn't really the case though.

Garcia's velocity wasn't slightly down, it was way down. A healthy Luis Garcia threw 94 MPH on average. The 2025 version was averaging 91 MPH. 3 MPH in any situation should send up all the red flags, but especially when coming back from TJ.