Yimi Garcia won’t be ready for Blue Jays opening day

Yimi Garcia“The 2025 season was ended prematurely last September by surgery to repair scar tissue in his throwing elbow. The right-hander’s recovery progress will extend at least through the first part of the 2026 season, as Garcia shared Shi Davidi from Sportnet that he will “100 percent‘not be ready to pitch when the Blue Jays start play on March 27.

It doesn’t seem like Garcia will miss too much time, even if he starts the season on the 15-day injured list. “I feel good now, I feel better than last seasonGarcia said, and he expects he’ll start throwing off a mound perhaps as soon as this week. Still, the veteran reliever is “a little behind“In his pitching progression, it appears Garcia and the Jays are playing the long game to ensure he is fully ready for the upcoming season, even if that means some missed time in March and April.

Much to his chagrin, Garcia has been a frequent visitor to the IL over the past two seasons as a variety of injuries have limited the right back to 61 appearances and 60 innings for the Blue Jays and Mariners in 2024-25. Garcia missed time in 2024 with both neuritis and inflammation in his right elbow, and he was limited by a shoulder impingement (leading to a 60-day IL stint) and a sprained left ankle in 2025. Garcia hasn’t pitched since July 2 as his elbow issues resurfaced while he was rehabbing his ankle sprain.

All of these injuries would be a concern for any pitcher, especially a veteran like Garcia, who turns 36 in August. Garcia has still been quite effective when he has been able to pitch, with a 3.60 ERA and a 30.5% strikeout rate over his last 60 IP. His walk rate took a big jump from 7.8% in 2024 to 13.3% in 2025, which could be seen as an injury-related outlier considering Garcia’s previous career high BB% was 8.3%, and that came over 15 innings during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

The Blue Jays dealt Garcia to the Mariners at the 2024 trade deadline, and despite his elbow issues, Toronto felt comfortable enough to bring the reliever back on a two-year, $15 million free agent deal last winter. It’s entirely possible that having a healthy Garcia in the bullpen put the Blue Jays on top in the World Series, and the team once again sees him as a key part of the late-game mix. When healthy, Garcia will join the postseason workhorse Louis Varland and new signature Tyler Rogers as the best setting options approach Jeff Hoffman.