Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Lefty Garcia returns to starting rotation
JUPITER — Marlins pitchers opened spring training this week under the impression there are as many as three spots up for grabs in the starting rotation.
Manager Don Mattingly indicated Thursday that in his mind there may actually only be two openings.
Returning starters Dan Straily and Jose Urena are set at the top of the rotation, barring something unforeseen. In addition, Jarlin Garcia, a key member of the bullpen as a rookie last season, is returning to his roots as a starter, and Mattingly doesn’t anticipate him going back to a relief role.
“That would shock me if that would happen,” Mattingly said.
“We think [starting is] probably the best for his development. Last year was a little bit of a shortcut to the bullpen. Right now he’s a starter, we feel like he’ll be a starter this year. He’s got three pitches – he’s got starter’s stuff.”
That begins with a fourseam fastball that last year averaged 94.35 mph, according to Statcast. The average four-seamer in the major leagues was 93.21 mph.
“If they think it’s something that’s going to help the team with me as starter, I’m all for it,” Garcia said.
The Dominican lefthander became a relief pitcher by necessity, summoned from Double-A last April to relieve the burden of a depleted bullpen. At the time, the Marlins were the only team without a lefty in the bullpen.
Garcia, 25, not only stuck but thrived in the role as a situational lefty, holding left-handed batters to a .208 average.
He finished with a 4.73 ERA in 53 innings over 68 appearances, inflated by some late-season struggles after a brief stint on the disabled list due to a biceps strain in mid-August. Prior to that, he had a 3.43 ERA and 0.99 WHIP.
Before last season, Garcia had been primarily a starter in the minor leagues since joining the organization in 2011, logging as many as 25 starts in back-to-back seasons in 2014 and ’15.
“I’ve always had it in the back of my mind that I can be a starter. I think I have the potential to be a starting pitcher [in the majors],” Garcia said. “This year comes a new opportunity. It’s a new regime, so I’ve just got to go out there with the right mindset and work hard to be the best starter I can be.”
Garcia got the word that he would get the opportunity and has been preparing throughout the offseason to make the physical and mental adjustment. He said he has been focusing on his breaking pitches, refining his curveball and changeup to complement a hardbreaking slider.
The Marlins are hopeful that a season of bigleague experience in relief will make for a smoother transition than if he came directly to the majors as a starter. As the club’s only lefty reliever for much of last season, he was often used in late-inning, highleverage situations.
“It helped me a lot; it helped me mature as a baseball player,” Garcia said. “The experience I was able to gain helped me prepare myself and control my body and control my emotions while I’m out there and focus on every pitch and making sure I’m throwing a quality pitch every time.”
For a team that has been unable to stabilize the starting rotation since the death of Jose Fernandez and is reluctant to pay the steep price for established starters, the move makes sense.
“Hopefully, the experience of getting to the big leagues and having success translates back into him starting and being able to have success at that level,” Mattingly said.