Prospect Spotlight: Deivi Garcia, New York Yankees
Deivi Garcia, RHP, New York Yankees AA
5/19/99 Fastball: 60 Curveball: 60 Changeup: 50 Control: 55
BA #85 MLB #NR. NYY BA #1 MLB #4
Deivi Garcia signed with the New York Yankees in 2015 out of the Dominican Republic. He is an undersized pitcher (5’9″, 163) who has big time stuff that elicits comparisons to a young Pedro Martinez. His first full-season debut was last year and he made it all the way from Low A Charleston to AA Trenton. This year he has been outstanding pitching between High A and AA (4-4, 2.78 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, with 109 strikeouts in 64.2 IP, good for an impressive 15.2 K/9). Even more impressive is the fact that his numbers have gotten better while pitching at AA. His plus fastball sits from 91-96 mph and it has good spin and is deceptive. His best pitch is his curveball, with tons of depth. Garcia is also developing a changeup that could become an above average pitch in time. Due to his size and effort in his delivery, some scouts question whether or not he can be a starter long term or if he’s better suited for the bullpen. Deivi Garcia is the top prospect for the New York Yankees according to Baseball America.
My Thoughts: Deivi Garcia is an extremely talented young pitcher who is only 20 years old with tons of upside. Now I know that he is undersized at 5’9″, but the Yankees had a legendary starting pitcher back in the 1950’s and 1960’s who was only 5’10” named Whitey Ford, so height isn’t everything. Garcia will need to get stronger in order to handle a starting pitcher role. He has never thrown more than 74 innings in a season which is more in line with the number of innings that a relief pitcher would have at the end of the year, so he will have to prove his durability. He has currently thrown 68.2 innings so far this season, with 51 innings coming at AA.
I love Deivi Garcia’s stuff. Every pitch he throws has plenty of movement and he has shown the ability to have good command and control of his pitches: 365 strikeouts to just 104 walks for his career.
Futures Game Review: His fastball hit 96 mph on a pitch that painted the corner of the strike zone and struck out Cristian Pache looking. Cristian Pache is an elite prospect for the Atlanta Braves. The next hitter he faced was Carter Kieboom who made it to the majors earlier this year with the Washington Nationals, Garcia was able to get Kiebook to hit a shallow fly ball out to the shortstop on a slider that shows the ability to be a plus pitch and it sits 83-87 mph. He also throws a plus curveball that sits about 77-78 mph with excellent movement. I like the fact that Deivi Garcia isn’t afraid to throw any pitch in any count and enjoys going right after hitters. He got the third batter of the inning, Isan Diaz a second base prospect for the Marlins to pop up to the second baseman just past the infield on a 93 mph fastball. He threw 14 pitches, 10 were for strikes.
Future: After the game the New York Yankees promoted Deivi Garcia to AAA. I think there’s an outside chance that if Garcia performs well he might get called up before the end of the season. I’m not exactly sure on the contract status so that could be the one thing that holds him back from being promoted, although if the pennant race is on I could see them going all in. If Garcia makes it to New York this year I feel he has the ability to perform like Josh James of the Astros did last year down the stretch into the postseason. This is the New York Yankees #1 Prospect and he has a bright future if he can stay healthy.
