Meet 20 year old Starting Pitcher Javier Garcia. The Mexican born "plump" pitcher was signed by the Vista Panthers as a raw 17 year old back in 2014. He came over the Jersey Shore in the deal that sent Antonio Ruiz out of down and also brought OF Miguel Rosa to Jersey's farm system. At the time Garcia was just an out of shape kid who threw in the low 90's and had a fairly bleak future. He was already in his 3rd year of playing A ball in Vista's system and seemed to regress from his first 2. He was still young at 18, but not a good sign.
That's when the trade happened. With Jersey promoting kids to fill their IF positions, the struggling Antonio Ruiz. who was once considered a blue chip prospect, was the odd man out. Garcia was one of the hand picked teenagers by Josh Swain. He had this to say, "He had great mechanics. He was a bit sloppy and left the ball out of the plate way too much, but we saw some potential. Now we didn't see him as a guy we could turn into an Ace, but at age 18, we knew we would have a lot of time to work with him over the years."
He came to Manhattan to started 17 times in 2015 and looked more like his 2014 self than the regressed Garcia we saw in 2015 with Vista. During the offseason he was put on a muscle training program and worked with Dan Macias at Jersey's Florida complex and the results were more than noticeable. He came into the 2016 season with a much lively fastball and while before he touched on 93 MPH, he was dialing it back and hitting 97-98 on the radar gun consistently. He spent most of the 2016 in A ball pitching better than ever before, giving up less hits and considerably less HR while keeping his K rate over 10 K/9. He was called up to AA Gainesville late in the season in time to get 12 starts where he would struggle, but was to be expected being 19 at a level where most guys are much older.
We turn to the current season. Just past the half way point and Garcia has gotten 18 starts at AA and scouts have said his fastball is hitting 99 MPH. His K/BB rate is at it's highest point since his last season in A ball and while his K/9 has slipped under 10, he is walked less than ever. Swain says there is no time table for promotion to AAA or the BSA, but he will have to be put on the 40 man roster aher this year to avoid the Rule V draft. He also stated his main problem is still leaving that ball up over the plate. Statistically for his career he has also had a groundball rate of under 50% and his propensity to give up the long ball will not suite him well in Jersey, that is the main focal point to work on. "If we can get him to where he is at his A level of HR giving up at less than 1/2 per 9/IP that would be ideal. Right now he is at 1, the way the ball flies out in the Ballpark at the Shore, he would get eaten alive in some starts. That's our goal for Mr. Garcia at this point."
We suggest you keep an eye on Javier Garcia over the next few years. While he is not a blue chip prospect, he very well could be a valuable addition to the back end of the rotation in the future.
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