Astros: Luis Garcia picks up first career win over Rangers

 The Houston Astros Beat The Texas Rangers 6-5 Saturday Night

Luis Garcia got his first win last night as a Houston Astro with a 6-5 victory over the Texas Rangers. He struck out five Rangers over five innings on the mound. The Astros offense took care of the rest with good offensive showings from Carlos Correa and Kyle Tucker. The bullpen struggles continued to maintain a lead, as Ryne Stenek could not hold it down for the Astros as the Rangers were able to get within one run. Luckily, Ryan Pressly was able to shut the door the ninth to preserve the victory.

Luis Garcia is 1-3 with a 3.34 ERA over eight games in 2021. While his numbers may not look good on paper to some, I think Garcia has potential to develop into a good pitcher for the Astros. Just give him some time with Brent Strom, and he’ll be ready to go in no time. Strom is a wizard with pitchers after all.

Framber Valdez is making progress in rehab according to a report by Astros beat writer Brian McTaggart. Valdez threw in the Astros bullpen prior to Friday’s game and will be with the Sugarland Skeeters on Sunday, as he is expected to return to the team in June. This is great news to Astros fans as we expected him to be gone for the remainder of the year.

Jake Odorizzi has felt really good about his rehab and sounds optimistic about his future with the team. Odorizzi has been taking his rehab very cautiously and is not rushing anything.

Regarding the future of these three pitchers, Garcia definitely has the upper hand in my opinion because he is healthy and has seen consistent major league action while the other two remain rehabbing in minor league ball. While we may see Valdez in June, who knows how long it will it will take him to bounce back. With Odorizzi, there is no time table for his return since he is taking such a conservative approach, he may not even pitch this season.