Deivi Garcia is a blossoming young prospect in the Yankees farm system that has the potential to make a big impact one day in the Bronx.
As we enter the 2019 baseball season, the New York Yankees farm system has a different look to it. Many of the household names have already earned the right to put on pinstripes in the Bronx. However, while there is still plenty of talent within the farm system, the difference is that a lot of this talent is currently spread across Pulaski (Rookie Adv), Staten Island (Short Season-A), Charleston (Single-A) and Tampa (Adv-A).
Typically, it is not until youngsters reach Trenton (Double-A) or Scranton (Triple-A) that the Yankees fan base starts to lobby for their call up. One prospect that could work his way through the ranks quite quickly is Deivi Garcia.
The 19-year-old Dominican right-handed pitcher who turns 20 in May was signed in the international market during the summer of 2015. Last summer, Garcia did something that is fairly uncommon in the sport of baseball as he leaped from Single-A to Double-A in just three months.
Garcia showed his potential in just his second Single-A game when he tossed a perfect game through seven innings while fanning 12 batters. After striking out 63 batters in 40.2 innings in Charleston, he was promoted to Tampa where he was dominant in his five starts at the Adv-A level. He finished with a 1.27 ERA, an impressive .192 Batting Average against, all while continuing to strike out batters at a rapid pace. Garcia ranked fifth in Strikeout Rate (39%) in 2018 (out of 1300+) minor league pitchers who tossed at least 50 innings.
“We call it, like, a sneaky fastball. It gets to you quicker than what you think,” Jose Rosado (Tampa Yankees pitching coach) stated. “As an organization in the pitching department, I think we do a great job. That’s something I really like and I love what we do here. We love to help them, teach them how to do one pitch at a time. I think this is like a team effort.”
Despite only being in Single-A, Garcia has all of the tools necessary in order to make a substantial impact in the Bronx one day.