Astros right-hander will soon see Dr. Keith Meister in Dallas and may need a second Tommy John surgery, per a report from Alden Gonzlez and Jeff Pa san of ESPN, relayed by Gonzlez . The 29-year-old Urquidy has yet to pitch this season, opening the year on the injured list with a forearm strain. He went out on a minor league rehab a signment last month, but he was pulled from his latest appearance after experiencing renewed discomfort in his forearm area. Houston skipper Joe Espada said late last week that Urquidy and fellow right-hander were seeking opinions from other doctors for their respective forearm i sues always an ominous development for a pitcher when dealing with a forearm/elbow injury. This marks the third time in four seasons that Urquidy has spent time on the injured list, though this would obviously be the most significant injury of the bunch. Shoulder troubles limited him to 20 starts and 107 innings back in 2021, and he mi sed more than three months of the 2023 campaign with another shoulder injury. When healthy, Urquidy is a solid big league arm. He was tagged for a 5.29 ERA last year, perhaps due to that shoulder injury, but has otherwise posted a sub-4.00 ERA mark in every big league season hes pitched. Hes totaled 405 MLB frames and logged a 3.98 ERA. Urquidys 19.6% strikeout rate is about three percentage points shy of the league average, but hes also posted an Dave Cash Jersey excellent 5.8% walk rate in the majors which has helped him to offset the relative lack of whiffs. Hes been prone to homers, as one might expect from an undersized right-hander with average fastball velocity, but his changeup has been an excellent pitch thats helped him to hold left-handers to a woeful .203/.255/.364 slash in his career. Urquidy is one of several Houston rotation options whos mi sed time this year. Both and are healthy now but have had stays on the injured list. The aforementioned Javier just landed on the 15-day IL recently. The Stros have also been without righties and all season, with the former recovering from Tommy John surgery performed last May and the latter on the mend from flexor surgery performed last June. The litany of injuries, paired with major steps back for right-handers and , has left Houston in whats been an unfamiliar position for them in recent years: one of po se sing a clear deficiency in the starting rotation. Starting pitching has been a hallmark of recent Astros clubs, but Houston starters rank 26th in baseball with a 4.69 ERA in 2024. Brown has begun to right the ship after incorporating a new two-seamer into his repertoire, but he opened the season with 26 runs in 23 innings, so he has a ways to go before his numbers look respectable once again. France posted an ERA north of 7.00 and was optioned to Triple-A, where hes since gone on the injured list with a shoulder injury. Rookie has been knocked around for a 5.98 ERA in his first nine MLB starts. The quartet of Verlander, Valdez, Javier and breakout righty has combined for strong results this season, but Javiers outlook is up in the air at the moment. Brown is holding down a rotation spot and can hopefully continue his recent stretch of productivity, but the depth behind the current group is suspect. Expected returns of Urquidy, McCullers and Garcia have been viewed as critical to the Astros as the summer wears on, but it now seems theres a real chance Urquidy wont make it back to the mound at all in 2024. Lefty recently inked a minor league deal with the Astros but was hit hard in his first Triple-A start with the organization. If Urquidy does go under the knife for the second Tommy John surgery of his career, hell mi s the remainder of the 2024 season and likely the majority of the 2025 campaign as well. It seems quite po sible that a surgery would end his tenure in Houston. He entered the 2024 season with 4.049 years of MLB service and will be paid $3.75MM this season, potentially spending the entire year on the injured list. Hed then be arbitration-eligible one final time this offseason before qualifying as a free agent post-2025. However, if Urquidy is going to mi s the bulk of next season, the Astros would likely non-tender him rather than pay him whatd likely be a repeat of this years $3.75MM salary just to pitch the final couple months of next season in a best-case scenario. Tug Mcgraw Jersey