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This morning, the Yankees made a move that everyone saw coming: Deivi García is back in the Bronx. The team promoted the 21-year-old righty pitcher from the alternate site, and he will get the start for tonight’s game in Baltimore against the Orioles.
García was the Yankees’ most exciting rookie in 2020 and thanks to the weird classifications caused by the shortened season, he still has rookie eligibility. He pitched to a 4.98 ERA (an 85 ERA+) in six starts in 2020, though he had better marks in FIP (4.15), K/9 (8.7), and BB/9 (1.6). As Peter noted in his season preview post on García, there was a lot to be excited about from his 2020 that we can look forward to in 2021 — particularly the late life on his fastball.
García has pitched three games against the Phillies’ alternate site squad in April. Scranton RailRiders beat writer Conor Foley has a new recap of each:
Final line on Deivi Garcia: 5 ups (not innings; only got 10 outs), 3 h, 1 r, 1 er, 3 bb, 4 k. Got up to 73 pitches.
— Conor Foley (@RailRidersTT) April 4, 2021
Third inning rolled with two on and two out (though Estrada’s error should’ve been an inning ending double play). Fourth inning rolled with bases loaded, no outs.
Final line on Deivi García: 4.2 ip, 4 h, 0 r, 0 er, 1 bb, 5 k. Threw 76 pitches. Got 14 swings and misses. pic.twitter.com/3fGbXEuraL
— Conor Foley (@RailRidersTT) April 14, 2021
Line on Deivi García: 5 ip (14 outs), 3 h, 0 r, 0 er, 2 bb, 2 k. Up to 85 pitches.
— Conor Foley (@RailRidersTT) April 19, 2021
Missed on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases in the fifth before the inning was rolled. Came that close to a full five innings.
Secondary-heavy outing Deivi led to a soft contact day for Alt-Philly.
So García should be able to pitch at least a few innings if all goes well, considering that he got up to 85 pitches during his last time out.
It’s also worth considering that since García is being used as a sixth starter, the Yankees are under no obligation to keep him in the rotation, especially since they have an off-day coming up a week from today. So don’t be surprised or consider it an indictment on his outing if the Yankees demote García after the game to bring in a fresh arm, like Michael King (who will be eligible to return tomorrow).
As a reminder, the Yankees already made the corresponding roster move for García since they demoted Nick Nelson after another dismal outing on Sunday afternoon. He’ll report to the alternate site and barring injury, he won’t be eligible to return for 10 days.