Deivi Garcia ready to make his 2021 debut against Orioles
Yankees starting pitcher Deivi Garcia deliver during the first inning of a spring training game against the Phillies in Tampa, Fla., on March 19. Credit: AP/Gene J. Puskar
CLEVELAND — Deivi Garcia’s last two starts of spring training — coupled with Domingo German’s standout Grapefruit League season — cost him the fifth starter job entering the regular season.
But the Yankees’ top pitching prospect looked at being sent to the club’s alternate site as spring training came to an end as "an opportunity," not a disappointment.
What kind of opportunity?
"An opportunity for me to work on my pitches and add more quality to them," said the 21-year-old Garcia, tabbed to make his 2021 debut Monday night when the Yankees start a four-game series against the Orioles at Camden Yards. "I did that last year and I did that again now in the expectation that at some point I was going to get a shot and help the team here."
The righthander said he’s been most pleased with his slider development at the alternate site.
Garcia made his big-league debut against the Mets last Aug. 30, allowing one run (unearned) and four hits in six innings of a 5-2 victory. As is the case with most young pitchers, he had his ups and downs after that, finishing 3-2 but with a 4.98 ERA in six starts. He struck out 33 and walked six in 34 1/3 innings.
"I think he’s made tremendous strides and understanding who he is as a pitcher, understanding his delivery better," Aaron Boone said Sunday. "And I think he’s shown us a real aptitude. He’s been real coachable in the things [coaches or staff] that they communicate to him. He’s usually able to apply [it] pretty well and make the necessary adjustments. Hopefully we continue to see that."
Struggling Frazier sits
Clint Frazier, in a horrendous slump to start the season, began the game on the bench Sunday as Mike Tauchman got the start in leftfield. Frazier indicated after the game that he’s going to scrap the batting stance he’s gone with since spring training. He has been up on the toes of his left foot with his heel pointing upward and his leg turned in, an unusual stance.
"If you follow the course of my career, I have like 500 different batting stances, and they’ve all worked at one point in time," said Frazier, whose 2-for-36 slump has his batting average at .146 with a .481 OPS. "That’s the difficult part, I’ve never really settled in to a stance. The stuff I was doing was not working, so it was time for me to kind of go back and look at the archives and see what I can do to get in my legs better to be able to get down on time. Because for me to able to swing, the little hitch I have in my swing, if it fires a little bit late, then I have trouble connecting on pitches that I would normally [hit]."
Frazier pinch hit for Brett Gardner in the sixth on Sunday, drawing a walk, and ended the eighth with a highlight-reel catch as he laid out to grab Jordan Luplow’s liner toward the gap in left-center.
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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