Yankees’ Garcia Makes U.S. Debut

TAMPA, Fla.—Instead of a traditional Gulf Coast League game on Wednesday, the Yankees pitted their two squads (East and West) against one another in a 10 a.m. intrasquad game.

Some of the team’s more notable prospects at the level—third baseman Nelson Gomez, catcher Donny Sands, shortstop Diego Castillo, catcher/first baseman Miguel Flames—but the star of the game was a righthander named Rony Garcia making his first start in the United States since coming over from the Dominican Summer League.

With the DSL, Garcia was 1-3, 1.88 with 39 strikeouts in 43 innings. And on Wednesday, it was easy to see why.

He starts his arsenal with a fastball with above-average cut life that sat between 92-94 mph and touched 96 during his 5 1/3 innings. He complements it with a curveball in the upper-70s that showed tight 11-to-5 break at times. He threw one changeup, an 87 mph offering that had a touch of fade but clearly needs development.

All this from an ideal pitcher’s frame of 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds and a clean delivery.

Garcia, who struck out five and allowed just three hits in his shutout appearance, signed—along with a spate of other players—out of the Dominican Republic last year for an undisclosed bonus.

With ingredients like he showed on Wednesday, he shouldn’t be anonymous for long.