Christian Garcia (baseball)

Christian J. Garcia (born August 24, 1985) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Garcia pitched for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball in 2012.

Christian Garcia
Garcia with the Washington Nationals
Pitcher
Born: (1985-08-24) August 24, 1985
Miami, Florida, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 4, 2012, for the Washington Nationals
Last appearance
October 3, 2012, for the Washington Nationals
MLB statistics
Win–loss record0–0
ERA2.13
Strikeouts15
Teams

Early life

Garcia attended Gulliver Preparatory School in Coral Gables, Florida. He played for the school's baseball team as a catcher[1] and committed to attend the University of South Carolina on a baseball scholarship, intending to play for the South Carolina Gamecocks.[2] He was a switch-hitting catcher as well as pitcher.[3]

Professional career

The Yankees selected Garcia in the third round of the 2004 MLB Draft,[4] and he made his professional debut in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League (GCL) with the GCL Yankees. One of the top prospects in the GCL in 2004, Garcia was promoted to the Charleston RiverDogs of the Class A South Atlantic League in 2005.[1] After returning to Charleston in 2006, the Yankees assigned him to the West Oahu CaneFires of the Arizona Fall League after the 2006 season.[5]

Garcia experienced a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow, which required Tommy John surgery in 2007.[4][6][7] After missing the entire 2007 season, Garcia pitched to a 4–4 win–loss record and a 4.33 earned run average (ERA) with 74 strikeouts in 62+1⁄3 innings pitched between the GCL Yankees, Tampa Yankees of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League, and Trenton Thunder of Class AA Eastern League in 2008. The Yankees added Garcia to their 40 man roster after the 2008 season.[8] Garcia experienced a recurrence of pain in his right elbow, which required his second elbow surgery, to repair a bone spur.[7] His UCL tore again in 2010, which required his second Tommy John surgery in April 2010.[4][6][7] The Yankees released him one month later.[6]

The Washington Nationals signed him in July 2011. In 2012, he allowed only five earned runs in 45 appearances, for a combined ERA of 0.86 for the Harrisburg Senators of the Eastern League and Syracuse Chiefs of the Class AAA International League.[9] On September 3, 2012, he was promoted to the major leagues.[10] The following day, he made his major league debut, inducing a pop-up to end an inning.[7]

Nationals manager Davey Johnson said on September 24 that the team may attempt to convert Garcia into a starter for the 2013 season, citing his fully developed repertoire of pitches.[11]

Garcia spent most of the 2013 season on the disabled list with a torn wrist tendon, shoulder and hamstring injuries, with minor league rehab assignments at Class A Potomac, Class AA Harrisburg, and Class AAA Syracuse. [12]

Garcia was released by the Nationals on June 25, 2014.[13]

Pitching style

Garcia threw four pitches: a four-seam and two-seam fastball averaging about 96 mph, a sweeping knuckle curveball[3] in the low 80s, and a changeup averaging about 87 mph.[14] Garcia said he was inspired to learn the spike curveball grip from watching Mike Mussina pitch.[3]

References
  1. Henley, Bill (March 31, 2005). "R'Dogs Getting Some Top Yankee Prospects". The Post and Courier. p. 4C. Retrieved September 24, 2012.
  2. "Draft leaves Gamecocks looking fine for 2005". The Herald. Rock Hill, South Carolina: Nl.newsbank.com. June 10, 2004. Retrieved September 24, 2012.
  3. Teale, Patrick (March 26, 2004). "Scout.com: Q&A with Christian Garcia". Scout.com. Archived from the original on February 5, 2015. Retrieved November 28, 2012. My curveball is more of a knuckle curveball.
  4. Kilgore, Adam (August 30, 2012). "Christian Garcia could be a call-up after overcoming two Tommy John surgeries". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  5. "Pilittere turning heads in AFL". MLB.com. June 19, 2012. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  6. Nalbone, John (May 15, 2010). "Yankees release RHP Garcia". NJ.com. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  7. Kilgore, Adam (September 5, 2012). "Christian Garcia makes debut after long road to majors". Washington Post. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  8. "Yankees add pitchers Anthony Claggett, Michael Dunn, Christian Garcia and Steven Jackson to roster". MLB.com (Press release). November 20, 2008. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  9. "Christian Garcia Minor League Statistics & History". Baseball Reference. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  10. "Christian Garcia, after a long path from injury, finally gets his call-up". Washington Post. September 4, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  11. Wagner, James (September 24, 2012). "Christian Garcia could start for Nats next season". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 24, 2012.
  12. Comak, Amanda (July 10, 2013). "Christian Garcia suffers another injury setback with hamstring issue". The Washington Times. Archived from the original on October 6, 2013. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
  13. Hughes, Chase. "Nats DFA Dobbs, cut Garcia, call up Hill". Nats Insider. CSN Washington. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
  14. "Brooks Baseball · Home of the PitchFX Tool - Player Card: Christian Garcia". Brooks Baseball. Retrieved September 24, 2012.
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