Jose

Urquidy

The Tigers signed Urquidy in March and placed him on the 60-day IL. The 30-year-old is making his way back from Tommy John surgery and will “ramp up his workload in the coming days,” according to manager A.J. Hinch. He could be an option in Detroit in the final months of the season, but we would keep our expectations in check for fantasy purposes.

The Tigers then immediately places Urquidy on the 60-day injured list. The right-hander is not expected to pitch much — if at all — in 2025 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. The deal is incentive-laden, as he receives $150,000 each for starts four and seven, $300,000 reaching 10, 13, 16 and 19 games started as a pitcher; and $500,000 each for reaching 22, 25 and 28 games started. Urquidy should be a backend option for the Tigers in 2026, and offers no fantasy significance for 2025.

The terms of the deal aren’t available just yet. Urquidy joins the Tigers after spending his entire career with the Astros, and he’s expected to miss most — if not all — of 2025 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. The 29-year-old has had success at the highest level, and could be a helper for the Detroit rotation in 2026.

Urquidy and Ortega have both opted to elect free agency following their removal from Houston’s 40-man roster. Urquidy underwent Tommy John surgery back in early June and will miss the vast majority of the 2025 campaign. He could make sense as a long-term stash option for a contender willing to wait until he’s finished his lengthy rehabilitation process. Ortega didn’t make an appearance last year for the Astros after undergoing a pair of elbow surgeries.

Javier underwent Tommy John surgery at the beginning of June, so a return at the end of July would be 13 months post-surgery which sets up with the normal recovery timeline. Even though Javier had an up-and-down season in 2024, he has posted a 3.59 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, and 27 percent strikeout rate over 501 innings (116 appearances, 82 starts) in the majors since 2020. Since fantasy managers will likely only get two months from Javier in 2025, it’s unlikely he gets drafted in most formats but he could be a valuable waiver add at the end of the season. Dana Brown mentioned that Jose Urquidy will be on a similar timeline, so the Astros will be without both of them for the majority of the 2025 season.

We know Urquidy underwent surgery Wednesday and everyone assumed it was Tommy John, but the Astros didn’t confirm it until today. Urquidy likely will attempt to return next August or September. One imagines the Astros will non-tender him this winter, particularly since he’ll be eligible for free agency after next year anyway.

Urquidy is undergoing elbow surgery today. The Astros haven’t confirmed that it will be Tommy John, but that is the expectation.

That’s been the assumption all along as the 29-year-old hurler gets a second opinion on the status of his UCL, but it’s still a tough blow for the Astros and for fantasy managers. Depending on the procedure that ultimately gets done, it’s likely that Urquidy will also miss the first part of the 2025 campaign while recovering.

If that’s not discouraging enough, Espada also refused to comment when asked if the pitchers’ UCL’s were intact. Lovely. The Astros should provide full updates on the status of both hurlers in the coming days once they get their second opinions, but it doesn’t sound good.

The right-hander was pulled from his latest minor league rehab start on Friday due to renewed discomfort in his right forearm. It remains unclear how long this setback will keep him out for, but his return to the Astros’ rotation no longer looks imminent.