Dominican powerhouse loses reliever Jarl¨ªn Garc¨ªa
New Bucs pitcher has left arm tightness, will miss World Baseball Classic
TAMPA, Fla. -- Left hander Jarl¨ªn Garc¨ªa will not participate in the World Baseball Classic because of left arm tightness he experienced Saturday in a Grapefruit League outing against the Phillies.
Garc¨ªa, 30, was on the Dominican Republic roster.
¡°He¡¯s been pulled from the WBC,¡± Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. ¡°We¡¯re still going through further testing to kind of reevaluate where he¡¯s at and how he¡¯s doing, but we had to make sure we got him out of the WBC because of it.¡±
Garc¨ªa left the game Saturday after giving up four runs in just one-third of an inning. It was his third appearance of the spring.
Shelton said there is no exact determination of the severity of the injury, but he hopes to have a better idea soon of what Garc¨ªa is dealing with.
¡°We don¡¯t have a timeline,¡± Shelton said. ¡°The more information we get, we¡¯ll have a better timeline on the injury itself.¡±
Garc¨ªa signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Pirates after six previous seasons split between the Marlins and Giants. He was 1-4 with a 3.74 ERA in 58 appearances with San Francisco last season.
Short start for Ortiz
In his second start of the spring, Luis Ortiz allowed seven hits and five runs in one-plus innings Monday night in the Pirates¡¯ 9-2 loss to the Yankees. Ortiz threw 45 pitches and failed to record an out in the second inning before he was removed.
"I felt pretty good,¡± Ortiz said through an interpreter. ¡°I was trying to attack the strike zone, using all my pitches. Maybe the outcome wasn't what I was expecting, but I felt good. I was able to attack hitters."
Shelton said before the game that he wanted Ortiz to focus on throwing strikes. Shelton said he wasn¡¯t worried about Ortiz using his changeup more, but the right-hander said it¡¯s a pitch he needs to continue to work on.
"I know I need to throw the changeup more, in the strike zone more,¡± Ortiz said. ¡°I struggled a little bit with it tonight. I just have to come back tomorrow and keep working on it in the throwing program and in bullpens, and, hopefully, it will get better."