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The Houston Astros played themselves back into contention over the last month and a half, but there are several hurdles they are going to have to overcome if they are going to keep it up. There is still a lot of uncertainty around the returns of Kyle Tucker and Justin Verlander, and several Astros players have been feast or famine when it comes to actual production in 2024.
Complicating matters, a couple of the guys that the Astros were hoping would be able to return from long-term injuries may not be returning as soon as fans hoped. Not only did Houston reveal that Lance McCullers Jr. suffered a significant setback in his rehab from elbow surgery, but now there are renewed health questions regarding Luis Garcia.
Astros News: Luis Garcia shut down during rehab due to lingering soreness
Garcia has been out since May 2023 after having Tommy John surgery. Up until this point, most of the updates on Garcia had been positive as he progressed to throwing again, and the start of his rehab assignment gave hope that he could provide some relief to the Astros' ailing rotation.
Unfortunately, those plans took a hit when it was revealed that Garcia got pulled from his rehab assignment. According to the report, Garcia simply didn't bounce back from his latest rehab start the way he or the team wanted. On the one hand, that doesn't necessarily mean there is a new injury in play, and he may just require some rest. However, it also means we don't know how long he is going to be shut down, and his timeline for return just got extended by quite a bit.
Astros News: Houston poised to get Victor Caratini back soon as he starts rehab assignment
One of the more under-the-radar injuries the Astros have been dealing with lately was the loss of catcher Victor Caratini to a hip flexor injury towards the end of June. Yainer Diaz has had a bit of an up-and-down season this year so far, and Caratini had been playing pretty well as the other part of that platoon before he went down.
Luckily, it sounds like Caratini could be back in the fold soon, as he started his rehab assignment this week. Hip injuries are particularly problematic for catchers, given they have to squat down constantly, but it would not be crazy to think that Caratini could be back playing in the big leagues in the next week or two, assuming there are no setbacks.