Yankees top prospect Deivi Garcia ranks in Top 25 of Baseball Prospectus’ midseason rankings

Deivi Garcia had quite the weekend. He got the start for the AL at the MLB Futures Game, flashing his top-end stuff in tossing a scoreless inning. Just after his start, the Yankees announced he was being promoted, with Garcia getting sent to Triple-A Scranton after making only ten appearances in Double-A.

On the heels of all that, Garcia was bumped all the way up to number 25 on Baseball Prospectus’ recently released midseason Top 50 prospects list. Garcia might not find his excellent standing on BP’s list to be as exciting as the rest of his week, but it’s certainly good news for fans following his meteoric ascent.

You can see BP’s full list here, free for non-subscribers. Garcia is the only Yankees prospect on the midsesaon ranking, but that he finds himself all the way in the Top 25 is a stunning result after not placing in the Top 100 of BP’s preseason list, nor the preseason lists at FanGraphs, Baseball America, or MLB Pipeline.

Despite missing out on the preseason rankings, Garcia’s newfound standing is fully earned. He has wowed observers all season, striking out an unfathomable 114 batters in 68.2 minor league innings. He owns a 3.01 ERA over the span, accumulated across 14 starts at the Double-A and High-A levels.

With his promotion to the highest level of the minors, it’s more than fair to speculate about Garcia’s major league ETA. Before the season, FanGraphs estimated Garcia wouldn’t break into the majors until 2021, a reasonable timeline for someone who only just turned 20. MLB Pipeline forecasted a 2020 ETA. Now, a call-up some time this season seems entirely possible, even if it’s only for a cameo out of the bullpen.

Make no mistake, Garcia has cemented himself among the game’s better pitching prospects, as BP’s aggressive ranking shows. He may not be on the level of the likes of Mackenzie Gore, Casey Mize, and Forrest Whitley, but it’s clear Garcia is the best pitching prospect in the Yankees’ system, and probably the best prospect overall. Here’s hoping the rest of his 2019 season brings even more thrills.