The New York Yankees have an extremely young and potent bullpen, but they’re never done looking to add positive contributors to the mix. One of their former top pitching prospects, Deivi Garcia, is starting to refine his style and justify a potential promotion this season, having started the 2023 season on a good note.
At 23 years old, Garcia made his last MLB appearance back in 2021, pitching 8.1 innings and recording a 6.48 ERA. He pitched 34.1 innings at the MLB level back in 2020, hosting a 4.98 ERA, indicating he needed a bit more development. In 2022 at the MiLB level, he pitched 37.1 innings, logging a 7.96 ERA, taking a step in the wrong direction, and battling through injury.
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The Yankees are seeing positive momentum from Deivi Garcia:
However, to start the 2023 campaign, Garcia hosts a 2.35 ERA across 7.2 innings and an 80% left-on-base rate. He is walking 3.52 batters per nine, but he’s been mostly efficient over a small sample size.
Garcia’s velocity is up a solid amount, and his accuracy is starting to improve. Once considered a star prospect, Garcia’s fall from grace has been unfortunate to watch. The Yankees remain keen on getting any value out of the youngster, who’s still only 23 years old and has plenty of developmental time left.
“Kind of like in that [Michael] King [role],” Aaron Boone said on Sunday. “A number of our guys are in that two, two-plus inning [role] on a given day.”
Manager Aaron Boone sees Garcia as a bullpen piece, which can be used similarly to Michael King, relieving starters and getting through a few innings due to their longevity.
Boone did indicate that Garcia is still growing, especially after being rushed to the MLB level several years ago and then sent back down after just a tiny taste of professional baseball.
The Yankees have a few depth concerns in the bullpen, having to use Clarke Schmidt and Jhony Brito as starters while they wait for Luis Severino and Carlos Rodon to return. In addition, Tommy Kahnle is battling bicep tendinitis, and Lou Trivino is still fighting back from an elbow sprain.
They most recently placed Jonathan Loaisiga on the 15-day injured list for the right elbow injury, so the Yankees may have to supplement, and Garcia comes to mind as a first-option call-up.
Nonetheless, Garcia had a solid spring performance and the Yankees were impressed by his growth. That could be enough to land another opportunity, especially if the Yankees are trying to deal with Injury.
“He’s a young man, so he’s still developing,” Boone said. “The stuff we saw in spring training is really good. Maybe that’s something that we can get in smaller bursts and just kind of roll to where he’s more consistent.”