Blue Jays right-hander Yimi Garcia has had a long road back from elbow surgery. That road may be taking another turn, as the club is sending him for evaluation regarding thoracic outlet syndrome, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. The reliever has been dealing with neck discomfort on his rehab assignment.
It’s been more than a year since Garcia pitched in the big leagues. He went down with an ankle injury in early July of last season. While working his way back from that issue, he hurt his elbow. A procedure on his arm ultimately ended his campaign. Garcia opened the 2026 season on the 15-day IL. He was shifted to the 60-day IL at the end of April.
Garcia has had his rehab assignment paused and restarted on multiple occasions. He made his first appearance in early May, then didn’t pitch again until the end of the month. Garcia appeared in six games between Single-A and Triple-A in June. He apparently wasn’t bouncing back as intended and stopped pitching once again midway through the month. Garcia returned to Dunedin over the weekend. He fired a clean frame, but came out of it battling neck pain.
The 35-year-old Garcia put together a few solid seasons with Toronto from 2022 to 2024. He was dealt to the Mariners at the 2024 trade deadline. He scuffled with Seattle and returned to the Blue Jays as a free agent that offseason. Garcia pitched to a 3.86 ERA over 22 games last year before the ankle injury. He picked up three saves and six holds as a key setup man ahead of closer Jeff Hoffman.
Toronto has slipped out of contention, so a healthy Garcia wasn’t going to mean much for the big-league club. His primary value would’ve been as a trade chip. The veteran is making $7.5MM in the final year of his deal with the Blue Jays. Garcia’s results in the minors were underwhelming. His fastball was down 2 mph in four Triple-A outings compared to his 2025 velocity. The combination of factors made a trade unlikely, even if Garcia was healthy.
