Garc¨ªa producing eye-popping numbers to begin '24
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This story was excerpted from Keegan Matheson¡¯s Blue Jays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
BALTIMORE -- Yimi García is on another planet right now.
At 33, he¡¯s never looked better. Garc¨ªa has a 0.53 ERA with 21 strikeouts and just five walks over 17 innings. He is, by every eye test and every measure, one of the best relievers in baseball.
There¡¯s something so unique about Garc¨ªa, too. Walk past him in the clubhouse a few hours before first pitch and it¡¯s almost jarring how laid-back he can be. Manager John Schneider calls him a ¡°gentle giant.¡± Most days, you¡¯ll find him in the dugout pregame, chatting with his kids and family on the phone, smiling and showing them the view of the stadium. His warm-up song, ¡°Ven Esp¨ªritu Santo,¡± is a slow power ballad.
Then¡ Garc¨ªa steps on the mound.
¡°He¡¯s very calm, but he¡¯s a tough guy to take out of a game because you¡¯re a little bit afraid of what he may do or say to you,¡± Schneider said with a laugh. ¡°He¡¯s been around enough. Whether it¡¯s the big leagues, winter ball, the postseason, he gets what he¡¯s coming into. He doesn¡¯t budge. Nothing fazes him.¡±
You don¡¯t want to be on the man¡¯s bad side, Schneider added, and most of baseball has ended up on his bad side this season.
What Garc¨ªa just did in Baltimore was breathtaking. In the Blue Jays¡¯ 3-2 win on Monday, he struck out the side in the bottom of the eighth inning without breaking a sweat, but Wednesday¡¯s outing was something else entirely. With Toronto up 2-1 in the seventh inning, Garc¨ªa entered with runners on second and third and no outs. Due up was the top of the Orioles¡¯ lineup.
For most relievers, the assignment is to keep the damage to one run. Garc¨ªa doesn¡¯t care for that advice. He blew through Baltimore with a strikeout, a foul pop fly and a groundout, holding the lead for the Blue Jays. They went on to lose on an Adley Rutschman walk-off homer, but that performance from Garc¨ªa deserved so much more.
He¡¯s not just a better pitcher than a year ago, but a different pitcher. Garc¨ªa hasn¡¯t stopped evolving.
¡°The sweeper is a new pitch, his velocity is there consistently, and he¡¯s locating his fastball really, really well at the top of the zone,¡± Schneider said. ¡°That¡¯s his thing. The sweeper is new, but it¡¯s weird because he has four pitches as a reliever. The changeup is really good to lefties, and he¡¯s locating everything really well right now. At this time last year, he was struggling to spot things up and down. Right now, he¡¯s nails.¡±
The coming months could go in so many different directions, but for now, Garc¨ªa is making a fine case for his first All-Star appearance.
He may not have the saves (two in two chances) to jump off the page -- not yet, at least -- but the rest of baseball is taking notice of Garc¨ªa now. He¡¯s pitching in the biggest innings for the Blue Jays -- and not just squeaking by, but dominating. Toronto has some other All-Star candidates in Yusei Kikuchi, Jos¨¦ Berr¨ªos and Danny Jansen, to name a few, but no player on this roster is having a year like Garc¨ªa.
There¡¯s a next logical step in all of this, of course.
The Blue Jays are 19-23. They sit in the basement of the AL East. If you¡¯ve watched a game or two this season, I don¡¯t need to tell you that things haven¡¯t been going well.
Looking two months down the road, if Garc¨ªa continues to pitch this well, he would be one of the top pitchers available leading up to the July 30 Trade Deadline. Sure, he¡¯d be a rental, but Garc¨ªa at his best is a reliever capable of turning a good bullpen into a great one, or a great one into an elite one. There would be a line outside the Blue Jays¡¯ door.
Garc¨ªa wouldn¡¯t be the only hot name on this roster, either.
Kikuchi, who owns a 2.60 ERA, is in the final year of his contract. Jansen, one of the top offensive catchers in MLB with a 1.011 OPS, is in his final year of team control after 12 years in the organization. Justin Turner is on a one-year deal. So is Kevin Kiermaier.
In the Blue Jays¡¯ perfect world, though, Garc¨ªa will be slamming the door shut in big September games. They just need to give him more than a one-run lead to work with. Garc¨ªa has earned it.