Garcia: Collision changed career
New Valleycat recalls bad injury from MLB in 2017
Tri-city Valleycats outfielder Willy Garcia has no memory of the play he believes changed his baseball career. He has seen the painful video.
“Sometimes I watch it,” he said. “I feel so sad sometimes. I said, ‘Man, how does that happen to me?’”
Garcia, in his only big league season, was playing right field for the White Sox on July 31, 2017, at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago. Toronto’s Darwin Barney hit a pop-up into shallow right field.
Garcia and Chicago second baseman Yoan Moncada converged on the ball with ugly results. Garcia slid to make a catch while Moncada tried to jump over him.
Moncada’s right knee struck Garcia hard in the right side of the head and knocked him out.
“I recognized the trainer after 20 minutes,” Garcia said. “I don’t remember anything from that moment.”
Garcia had a concussion and didn’t play for another six weeks. He did return to play four games that September. But Garcia said the injury robbed him of momentum and valuable playing time.
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“At that moment, I hit very good and I hustled and played defense,” Garcia said. “They gave me more opportunity because a couple of guys got injured … I think if I hadn’t got my injury, I think I’d be in the big leagues.”
Garcia, who batted .238 in 44 games with the White Sox, was released in March 2018 after dealing with a wrist injury. He hasn’t been back in affiliated ball while traveling to his native Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Panama and Canada to keep his career alive.
The Valleycats of the independent Frontier League acquired Garcia last week in a trade with the Schaumburg Boomers. He is 1-for-6 as the designated hitter in his first two games with Tri-city.
He scored the tying run in the fifth inning in the Valleycats’ 3-2 victory over the Sussex County Miners on Wednesday before 1,506 at Bruno Stadium. Tri-city won its third straight game to improve to 7-16.
“I’m here to do my job, try to do everything and try to teach the young guys all the little details I learned earlier in my career,” Garcia said.
The Valleycats prevailed Wednesday when left fielder Carson Maxwell easily threw out Sussex County pinch-runner
Trevin Esquerra at home plate in the bottom of the ninth to end the game. Esquerra was trying to score the tying run on Daniel Herrera’s single off Trey Cochran- Gill.
“When he hit the ball, I knew I was going to throw it home because I knew they’d try to tie it,” Maxwell, a converted infielder, said. “They’ve seen me before and I didn’t have a very strong arm so I knew they’d try it. I just tried to make a good throw.”
Garcia is a natural outfielder and Incaviglia plans to use him in right field. Garcia admits he still worries when a shallow fly gets hit into no man’s land like the one four years ago. He said he makes sure he communicates with the first and second baseman and calls them off earlier than he called off Moncada before their collision.
“I don’t want somebody to hit me again, but I’m a little bit careful when I run in,” Garcia said. “I’m scared because that moment comes into my mind and that’s hard sometimes.”
Incaviglia said he’s happy to have Garcia as a presence in the lineup, batting fifth behind fellow Dominican Denis Phipps.
“He makes everybody else better around him,” Incaviglia said. “I think he’ll help the guys, take a little pressure off of Phippsy and (Juan) Silverio and Maxwell. I’m hoping his presence makes pitchers uncomfortable.”
Garcia, 28, said he never a bad day in the big leagues because he was so thrilled to be living his dream after seven years in the minors with the Pirates and White Sox. Then came the accident with Moncada.
“Maybe it’s not my moment to be there (in the majors),” he said. “Maybe God has a new plan for me … Look where am I right now. I tell my teammates, when you’re in a high level, don’t be cocky. Be the same person every time, because one day you’ll be at the top and one day maybe you’ll be at the bottom.”