The Toronto Blue Jays’ beleaguered bullpen has suffered another blow, as they learned that Yimi Garcia will be undergoing elbow surgery and is officially done for the year.
Manager John Schneider announced on Friday that the reliever is expected to be ready to go for spring training 2026. The surgery is to clean up scar tissue in his elbow.
It’s been a rough season for Garcia, who has missed the last 47 games, and 80 overall. It began with a shoulder impingement, proceeded to an ankle sprain and then the ulnar nerve issue.
Yimi Garcia’s Elbow Fails to Respond
The decision to go under the knife comes after getting a second opinion from elbow specialist Dr. Keith Meister this week. Garcia’s arm simply wasn’t responding properly after recent throwing sessions.
With the Jays’ bullpen sitting right near the bottom of MLB in ERA the past six weeks, this news is especially unsettling. Garcia began the season with 14 consecutive scoreless innings as the primary set-up man for closer Jeff Hoffman.
“He was one of the best in the league, really,” Schneider said of Garcia’s run to start the year. “You can kind of look back and see how dominant he was at the time and say, ‘Damn, I wish he were here.’ ”
The 35-year-old missed the month of June with the shoulder impingement, and then upon his return in early July, he sprained his ankle when he slipped getting into the hot/cold tub. His absence since then coincides with the near-complete collapse of the bullpen.
Schneider will now have to continue to mix and match with a number of less-than-palatable options in the setup role. He’s tried everyone from Seranthony Dominguez to Brendon Little, to Yariel Rodriguez, to Louie Varland. None of them have distinguished themselves as good options of late.
Overall on the season, Garcia posted a 3.86 ERA, with three saves and 25 strikeouts in 21 innings. He held batters to a .171 average.
An 11-year veteran, this is Garcia’s second go-round with the Blue Jays. He spent 2022, ’23 and most of ’24 in Toronto, before they traded him to the Seattle Mariners at last year’s deadline. But he returned this season on a two-year, $15 million deal in free agency, and immediately returned to his high-leverage role in the Jays’ bullpen.
He has a 3.49 ERA in 178 total innings with the team, with a 1.09 WHIP and 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings. He’s also chipped in with 12 saves over his four seasons in Toronto.
