The Yankees are trying to resurrect the career of fallen big prospect Deivi Garcia so that he can revive his chances of returning to the MLB. If the fallen former star prospect gets called up, he will most likely throw out of the bullpen.
Garcia began with a big promise in 2020 before faltering in the last two seasons. The Yankees are focusing on transforming him into a multi-inning reliever, which is the role manager Aaron Boone expects for him in the majors.
“Kind of like in that [Michael] King [role],” the Yankees manager told during his pre-game press meet at Camden Yards on Sunday. “A number of our guys are in that two, two-plus inning [role] on a given day.”
Yankees need to reinforce their bullpen
Garcia showed better stuff and speed in spring training before he was sent to the minor league. In his three appearances out of the Triple-A bullpen, he has pitched between two and three innings each time, giving up two runs in 7 2/3 innings (2.35 ERA) and striking out six batters.
Due to injuries to their starting pitchers, the Yankees have promoted Clarke Schmidt and Jhony Brito as their first backup starters.
Their bullpen has also been hurt badly. Tommy Kahnle is out until at least late May with right biceps tendinitis, Lou Trivino has a sprained UCL, and Jonathan Loaisiga can’t throw for a few weeks because of inflammation in his right elbow.
Ian Hamilton and Colten Brewer were two of the first relievers the Yankees brought in to help out.
Greg Weissert, Matt Krook, and maybe even Garcia would play a bigger role if more players got hurt or didn’t do their jobs well.
Is Garcia ready for the change?
At just 21 years old, Garcia made his debut as an electric starter who was compared to Pedro Martinez. In the two seasons after that, though, his stuff got worse and he got hit hard in both the majors and the minors. Last season, the Yankees shut him down for two months to “reset” him.
During a strong spring in the Grapefruit League, the 23-year-old Dominican star showed a glimpse of his days from 2020. His fastball stayed in the mid-90s, and a new cutter impressed.
“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.”
He is currently at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Yankees’ third 3-series win in 20 years
With Sunday’s win over the Orioles, the current Yankees dynasty became the third team in the last 20 years to win their first three series of the season. In 2020, they won their first four, and in 2010, they won their first five.
Anthony Rizzo went 2-for-4 and hit a double. In all eight games he has played this season, he has reached base safely. Boone said that since Luis Severino hurt his right lat, he will have his bullpen practice on Monday. This is a day behind schedule. Severino was supposed to pitch on Sunday, but he didn’t because he had to work harder on Saturday and play a day game, which gave him less time to rest. Carlos Rodon, who has a strain in his left forearm, will throw a side session on Monday or Tuesday. The last live batting practice Rodon threw was on Wednesday.
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