White Sox Gamble On Deivi Garcia

On Thursday the White Sox claimed right-hander Deivi Garcia off waivers from the Yankees. He was then optioned to Triple-A Charlotte. 

Garcia is the latest former top 100 prospect Rick Hahn has collected joining Touki Toussaint, Brent Honeywell and Luis Patiño. 

The Yankees did not do him many favors during his development. Former Yankees catcher Erik Kratz called out the team for their handling of Garcia during an episode of Foul Territory. 

“They did him wrong in the organization in the sense of the coaches, they had to coach him through being a 20-year-old in the big leagues.

“It’s a prime example of a guy, they could’ve traded for whatever the Yankees needed, it would’ve been a big piece coming off the years he was having in the minor leagues. They didn’t do it and now anybody can have [him],” Kratz said. 

The Yankees signed him as a 16 year old out of the Dominican Republic. He tore through the lower levels of the Yankees farm system, reaching Double-A by the age of 19. He did get knocked around in Triple-A but scouts did not seemed to be concerned because of the age gap between him and the majority of his competition. 

In 2020 MLB Pipeline ranked Garcia as the 92nd prospect in baseball.  He made his big league debut later that year despite the minor league season getting canceled. Despite his 4.98 ERA, Garcia ranked in the 92nd percentile in chase rate and the 94th percentile with a  4.1 percent walk rate. His biggest issue was serving up too many home runs and working his way out of jams. 

However, his  22.6 percent strikeout rate and  5.50 strikeout to walk ratio were particularly impressive considering the 21-year-old was rushed to the big leagues.  That postseason he became the youngest Yankees pitcher to start playoff game since Whitey Ford. 

In 2021 he was the Yankees No. 3 prospect but logged just 8 ⅓ innings in the show. The Yankees rotation was stacked with veterans that season and there were simply no opportunities for him. 

His numbers in Triple-A didn’t do him any favors. Garcia got tagged for a 6.85 ERA in 90 ⅔ innings. In 2022 he got sent back down to Double-A and logged a combined 6.89 ERA in 64 innings between the two levels. 

The organization moved him to the bullpen in the hopes for better results. 

The command he showed in 2020 has completely evaporated. This season he has a 5.67 ERA and 14.6% walk rate in 48 innings out of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders bullpen. 

Given his small 5’9” 165-pound frame it may be tough for him to handle a starter's workload, especially given his current command issues. However, in a pair of relief outings in the MLB this year his fastball averaged 95.1 mph. If there is one thing the White Sox are good at it’s buying low hard-throwing guys with command issues and trying to turn them into effective bullpen arms. Take Gregory Santos and Keynan Middleton for example. 

A change of scenery was long overdue for Garcia and the White Sox are the perfect situation for Garcia. With nothing else to play for, they can bring him up and see what they got. He will be out of options next Spring so if he doesn’t crack the Opening Day roster he will need to clear waivers.