Garcia has one more start to make case
Deivi Garcia’s entry to the majors took a step back in his most recent outing, when he gave up six runs in just three innings at Fenway Park.
He’s got one more start Saturday to show the Yankees he’s ready to play an important role in the postseason.
Asked his most important takeaway from that performance, Garcia said it came down to having a game plan on the mound.
“How to put together a plan and understand how important it is to execute certain pitches in certain situations and how to find a way to do that,’’ Garcia said Friday through an interpreter before the Yankees faced the Marlins in The Bronx.
That was certainly an issue against the Red Sox on Sunday in
Boston, when manager Aaron Boone questioned the pitch selection with Gary Sanchez behind the plate.
“Just some misses with his fastball,’’ Boone said following the outing of Garcia’s lack of command. “I don’t think he had the same life on his fastball, maybe a tick off. A couple of pitch selections could have mixed a little more.”
Boone was confident Garcia would return to form before the playoffs.
“Just a bump here for him,’’ Boone said. “They’re all things he can correct and do what we’ve seen in his next one. He’s fully equipped to handle these things.”
Unlike his last appearance, Garcia doesn’t figure to pitch to Sanchez against the Marlins because Sanchez caught Friday and
Saturday is a day game.
Regardless of who Garcia is pitching to, he’ll hope to avoid the eight hits and two homers he allowed to a bad Red Sox team.
“It’s important to put a good plan in place and go out there and execute the plan, especially in tough moments,’’ Garcia said. “Follow the plan of attack.”
It’s still unclear how the 21year-old might be used in the playoffs. With Gerrit Cole and Masahiro Tanaka set to start the first two games of the best-ofthree wild-card series, the Yankees seem most likely to turn to J.A. Happ, who started Friday’s game against the Marlins in The Bronx.
Even if that’s the case, Garcia figures to play an important role for the staff, either in the wildcard series or beyond, if the Yankees advance.