The Phillies' bullpen hasn’t exactly exemplified the definition of consistency this season. With a league-worst 4.63 ERA, 1.51 WHIP, as well as allowing the opposition to bat .273 and slug .438 off it, the ’pen needs some help.
So why not bring aboard Luis Garcia?
Wait a second … who?
No, Garcia won’t be found in any top prospect digests. In fact, pitching coach Rich Dubee seemed to have the most information about Garcia in that he knew that he was a right-hander. Until the Phillies picked him up during spring training as a surplus arm for the minors, Garcia hadn’t pitched in organized baseball since 2010. In fact, until this season Garcia had not pitched above Single A ball ever.
And now he’s in the big leagues.
Here’s a quick timeline on Garcia:
Signed by the Dodgers as a 19-year old in 2006, the 6-foot-3, 230-pound righty spent his first year of pro ball in the Dominican summer league. He spent 2007 and 2008 in rookie ball before getting traded to Washington at the end of the 2009 season.
After 2010 when Garcia pitched for Single A Hagerstown and Potomac in the Nationals organization, he disappeared. No one seems to know where Garcia was during the 2011 season other than he wasn’t playing organized baseball.
Garcia resurfaced in 2012 when he appeared in nine games for the independent Atlantic League Newark Bears. Apparently Garcia pitched well enough in those nine games -- despite the 11.57 ERA -- that the Phillies grabbed him to fill out the roster for Clearwater.
But then something happened. Garcia started getting hitters out. In 14 games for Clearwater, Garcia posted a 1.37 ERA with seven saves. He had 20 strikeouts and just five walks in 19 2/3 innings. In his last 7 1/3 innings for Clearwater, Garcia didn’t allow a run.
At Reading, he had a 2.45 ERA in 11 games with 13 strikeouts and three walks in 11 innings. Just before being promoted, Garcia did not allow a run in his last nine innings for Reading.
Garcia appeared in six games at Triple A, picked up his third save on Monday night and allowed just one run with six strikeouts and four walks in seven innings. Word is Garcia has a good fastball with a hard slider. He also seems to have ironed out control issues that plagued him during his time with the Dodgers and Nationals. Before this season, Garcia averaged 4.1 walks per nine innings. But during his ascent up the Phillies’ ladder, he’s walked just 2.9 per nine.
So when that big righty comes out of the Phillies’ bullpen for the first time, just be aware that the Phillies haven’t really seen him pitch yet, either.