Was signed as a 20-year-old non-drafted free agent out of Venezuela on July 2, 2017...signed by Astros scouts Oz Ocampo, Tom Shafer, Roman Ocumarez and David Brito...As an amateur in Venezuela and prior to signing with the Astros, had trouble finding baseball cleats in Venezuela for his size 12 feet...Garcia’s mom, who is a social worker, had a friend with a connection to Major League Baseball and made the ask for new cleats on behalf of her son...her friend with the MLB connection happened to be the sister of Astros bullpen catcher Javier Bracamonte, who regularly sends equipment back to his native country of Venezuela...without knowing who they were for, Bracamonte provided the cleats, which eventually made it back to Garcia... finally in 2021, at some point during Garcia’s rookie season, Bracamonte was surprised to find out that the kid from Venezuela who needed size 12 cleats was Garcia, who was in his first full season with the Astros...Is the third player in club history to wear the #77 after Pudge Rodriguez (2009) and Pedro Feliz (2010)... was assigned the number when he joined the club in midseason of 2020 and opted to keep it moving into the 2021 campaign...he has a special connection to the number, which was worn by him in photo ops on international signing day in 2017...the #77 signing day jersey was pulled randomly for photos by the Astros international staff...Prior to it being outlawed this season, had one of the most unique windups in the Majors, which was a mix of rocking a baby and a salsa dance...Garcia does not have a strong origin story for his windup, instead saying he wanted a windup that he felt could be repeatable...it’s so unique that it’s been mimicked by all, from Major Leagues, including Shohei Ohtani, to little leaguers, including Spring Branch 9-year-old Charlie Strong, who started using Garcia’s windup in his little league games...after a video of Charlie went viral, Luis insisted on hosting Charlie at Minute Maid Park, which happened on May 25, 2022...Charlie threw out a ceremonial first pitch that day, using the unique windup, with Luis serving as his catcher...Is currently signed to a one-year contract for the 2023 season...this Spring Training will be his third with the Major League club.
2022
Second-year starter picked up 15 wins in his 28 starts...ranked tied for fourth in the AL in wins... had a very similar season to his rookie year of 2021, when he finished second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting...set career highs in wins and innings (157.1) in 2022...also posted a 1.13 WHIP, a tick better than in 2021 (1.18)...Finished the season riding a career-long, sevengame winning streak, which ranked as the seventhlongest in the AL this season...his streak began on Aug. 12 and spanned his last eight starts...in those outings, worked to a 3.20 ERA (16ER/45IP)...Went 11-3 with a 4.46 ERA (42ER/84.2IP) in 15 home games...pitched better on the road, posting a 2.85 ERA (23ER/72.2IP) in 13 games...Among AL pitchers (min. 150 IP), ranked ninth in opponent average (.222), 10th in strikeouts per 9.0 (8.98) and 12th in opponent OPS (.678)...Gets his outs via the strikeout and fly ball, as he ranked fifth in the AL in fly ball percentage (43.6%) among those with 150+ IP...Has dominated right-handed hitters in his career, limiting them to a .193 average (120x622)...lefties have hit almost 70 points higher against Garcia, posting a .259 average (151x582)...in 2022, those numbers are close to evening out as he limited righties to a .213 (67x315) average and lefties to a .234 (64x274) mark...Made his second consecutive OPENING DAY roster and pitched the Astros fifth game of the season on April 12 at ARI...Made history in the 2nd inning on June 15 at TEX, tossing the eighth immaculate inning in franchise history...struck out 1B Nathaniel Lowe, 2B Ezequiel Duran and 3B Brad Miller on nine pitches in the frame...later was joined in that game by RHP Phil Maton, who also tossed an immaculate inning in the seventh inning against those same three hitters... according to MLB.com’s records, marked the first time in MLB history for a game to feature two immaculate innings...Went 1-1 in the Postseason with a 1.59 ERA and six strikeouts in 5.2 IP, working solely as a reliever...tossed a heroic 5.0 scoreless innings in relief in the Astros 18-inning win in Game 3 of the ALDS at SEA...pitched the final 5.0 innings of the Astros win, allowing just two hits and no walks... became the second Astro to work 5.0 scoreless in relief in a postseason game, joining LHP Framber Valdez, who did so in Game 1 of the 2020 AL Wild Card Series at MIN...Garcia was also just the second pitcher in postseason history to work 5.0-plus scoreless relief innings which all came in extras, joining RHP Yusmeiro Petit (6IP), who did so for the Giants in Game 2 of the 2014 NLDS vs. SF.
2021
Named an MiLB.com Organizational All-Star in 2021 after having a strong campaign between Double A Corpus Christi (8g) and Triple A Sugar Land (17g)...combined to go 9-3 with a 3.79 (48ER/114IP) in 25 games (18 starts)...struck out 157 in 114.0 innings pitched, while allowing a .221 opponent average...began the year with the Hooks before a promotion to Sugar Land in June...while with the Skeeters, named the Triple A West Pitcher of the Month in July and the Triple A West Pitcher of the Week on Aug. 29.
2020
Made his Major League debut with the Astros, going 0-1 with a 2.92 ERA (4ER/12.IP) and nine strikeouts in five games (one start)...Bypassed Double-A and Triple-A en route to the Majors, as he had never appeared in a game at those levels prior to making his big league debut...Spent Spring Training at minor league camp, but was added to the Astros player pool prior to the beginning of Summer Camp...Was selected to the Major League roster on Aug. 29...Made his MLB debut on Sept. 4 at LAA in relief of starter Lance McCullers Jr., who did not collect an out in the 1st inning...tossed 4.1 innings, allowing just one hit and one run on a solo homer...struck out two with three walks...entered the game with the bases loaded and no outs in the first inning... stranded two-of-three inherited runners...Per Elias, became the second pitcher in Astros history to go 4.1+ innings while allowing one or fewer hits in his MLB debut, joining Joe Musgrove (Aug. 2, 2016 vs. TOR)...Made his first career start on Sept. 9 at OAK and tossed 5.0 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit with two walks and four strikeouts...Became the Astros fourth homegrown pitcher from Venezuela to make a start for the club, joining J.C. Gutierrez (2007), Fernando Nieve (2006) and Carlos Hernandez (2001)...POSTSEASON: Was on the Astros rosters for both the ALDS and ALCS...ALCS VS. TB: Made one appearance in the postseason, as he started Game 5 of the ALCS vs. TB...tossed 2.0 hitless and scoreless innings, walking two batters with one strikeout...Prior to Garcia, the last American League pitcher to make his first career postseason appearance as a starter in an LCS game was Cleveland’s Ryan Merritt in Game 5 of the 2016 ALCS at TOR (0ER/4.1IP)...At 23 years, 307 days old, became the youngest pitcher to make his postseason debut with a start in the LCS since Tony Saunders (23 years, 164 days) of the Marlins in Game 3 of the 1997 NLCS vs. ATL (2ER/5.1IP)...Became the youngest pitcher in Astros history to start a potential elimination game in the postseason...previous youngest was Lance McCullers Jr. (24 years, 30 days) in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series at LAD (0ER/2.1IP).
