The Astros are pulling back a bit on right-hander s rehab proce s after he didnt rebound well follow his most recent start in the minors, manager Joe Espada Jon Matlack Jersey told reporters (including ) on Friday. Kawahara went on to note that Espada emphasized that Garcia had not suffered a setback, although plans for the righty to throw a bullpen has been delayed and theres no timetable for him to make his next rehab start. Its a frustrating turn of events for Houston, as the clubs rotation has been beleaguered by injuries all season. Right-handers , and are all done for the year after undergoing season-ending surgeries last month, and of the three starters on the IL expected to return this year Garcia appears to be the closest. This latest delay figures to leave the Astros to make the best out of a patchwork rotation featuring , , , , and . Aside from Valdez, only Brown entered the 2024 season with more than a handful of starts at the big league level on his resume and only Blanco has posted an ERA better than league average. Of course, the return of Garcia would be a welcome one even if the Astros rotation was in better shape. After all, the 27-year-old righty sports a career 3.61 ERA and 3.79 FIP in parts of four seasons in the majors. Garcia had solidly worked his way into the middle of Houstons rotation prior to the Tommy John surgery that wiped out most of his 2023 campaign, and he figures to pitch key innings for Houston in the second half so long as he can return to action healthy and effective sometime after the All-Star break. The Astros got more positive injury news regarding the status of right-hander , whos been on the IL with a neck i sue for the past month. The future Hall of Famer returned to the mound today, however, and while he was initially scheduled for a light bullpen se sion of just 10 to 15 pitches, reports that he threw a 25-pitch se sion that included all of his pitches without any i sues. Thats a major step forward for the right-hander, and while its unclear when the veteran will return to the majors relayed that hes expecting to throw another bullpen during the All-Star break. Injuries have limited Verlander to just ten starts so far this year, and hes struggled (at least by his own lofty standards) when healthy enough to take the mound with a 3.95 ERA thats more or le s in line with league average and a worrying 4.99 FIP. While his 21.3% strikeout rate and his 7.1% walk rate are both more or le s in line with the numbers he posted last year, Verlanders career-worst 24.8% groundball rate and elevated 9% barrel rate are both cause for concern, and his fastballs velocity is down half a tick from last year. Looking toward the positional side of things, outfielder provided an update to reporters ( ) about the shin contusion thats sidelined him for six weeks now. Tucker told reporters that hes advanced to throwing on the field and is hoping to return sometime at the beginning of the second half, though he didnt put a specific timetable on his return and cautioned that hes still feeling some discomfort in his leg. While the Astros have surged in Tuckers absence with an excellent 23-11 record since he was placed on the shelf, the club is surely eager to add another star bat back into the lineup alongside and . Tucker caught fire early in the season prior to his injury and headed to the injured list with a scorching .266/.395/.584 slash line in 60 games despite a lackluster .245 BABIP. If he can contribute anything even close to that upon his return later this summer, it would be a ma sive boost to the club as they work to catch a division-leading Mariners club that they trail by just one game entering play today. Matt Duffy Jersey