Garcia’s new ‘normal’ gets early results
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — From the moment baseball mandated a pitch clock, no Astros pitcher prompted more concern than Luis Garcia. The league promised to crack down on his delivery, so in December, he started to alter it. Gone are the pre-pitch arm rocking and some of the steps he used before releasing the baseball.
“We gave him plenty of time to make the adjustment,” manager Dusty Baker said. “He was kind of the poster boy for it and he went to work. He said he didn’t feel any difference.”
When spring training began, Garcia tried to temper any concern. He called his new delivery “normal” and expected no noticeable dropoff in his arsenal or results.
“It was kind of rough in the beginning, but right now, I think I’ve found a way and felt pretty good,” Garcia said.
Tuesday affirmed his faith, but did offer a reminder of how rushed pitchers may feel at points this season. Garcia retired six of the seven New York Mets he saw during his Grapefruit League debut, carving up a lineup full of everyday players.
Garcia threw 21 of his 30 pitches for strikes. He averaged 94 mph with his four-seam fastball and touched 95.9. The Mets took 14 swings against him and whiffed five times.
“It went good,” Garcia said. “I felt good and the results say that. I’m really happy for that. A good start to the spring.”
Garcia said he expects to make one more Grapefruit League start before turning his attention to Team Venezuela and the World Baseball Classic, which will be played without a pitch clock and will ostensibly allow Garcia to use his former windup.
Tuesday’s results reveal he’s fine without it. He struck out four of the seven batters he saw, using three different pitches to procure the four punchouts — a changeup, slider and two fourseam fastballs. Garcia tried for four different putaway pitches, but fell victim to the baseball’s changing times.
Ahead 0-2 against Mark Canha in the second inning, Garcia intended to spin a cutter and secure the strikeout. Garcia said he did not receive the call in time, looked up and saw the 15-second clock winding down. Pitchers who don’t begin their motion within the allocated time are dinged for an automatic ball.
“I didn’t want to get a ball,” Garcia said, “so (I) just (threw) a fastball right down the middle. That’s it.”
Canha swung through it.
Diaz is first hitter burned by new rules
After avoiding anything of consequence in their first three Grapefruit League games, an Astros hitter ran afoul of the pitch clock during the fourth and struck out without seeing a pitch.
Rookie designated hitter Yainer Diaz received an automatic third strike after he did not engage with New York Mets reliever Troy Miller in time to satisfy the sport’s new rules. Batters are required to be in the batter’s box and “engaged” with the pitcher with eight seconds remaining on the pitch clock.
Diaz, who played with a pitch clock last season in Class AAA Sugar Land and said he never had an issue, appeared to be in the batter’s box at the eightsecond mark, but did not seem to be ready to hit. He moved his bat and tapped home plate when the clock reached seven seconds. Home-plate umpire Edwin Moscoso immediately signaled strike three.
“I guess I just looked at the pitcher a little bit too late and it was past the time,” Diaz said through an interpreter. “… I don’t think it will be an issue in the future. That situation there, I think I lost a little bit of focus. Obviously it was a 3-2 count, just battling there and lost a little bit of focus.”
Diaz did not dispute the call while walking toward Houston’s dugout. Situations like his are a fear for hitters across the sport, some of whom have aired their grievances with the game’s new rules during the first week of spring training games.
“It feels like you have to rush into the box,” Astros right fielder Kyle Tucker said after his first Grapefruit League game. “When you step out, you realize what just happened, what kind of pitch did he throw, where location-wise did they throw it, you take all that in and try to figure out what they’re going to do next and get a gameplan for it. You can’t really do that too much because you have to step out, step back in and get the next pitch going.”
Bregman to make spring debut Friday
Alex Bregman will make his Grapefruit League debut Friday against the Atlanta Braves at Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.
Bregman is the Astros’ only healthy everyday player yet to appear in a spring training game. He is not playing in next month’s World Baseball Classic, meaning the Astros can bring him along slower than participants Tucker, Jose Altuve and Jeremy Peña.
“It’s part of our plan,” Baker said prior to Tuesday’s game against the Mets. “We’ve got time. We planned it out before (spring training) and I didn’t want him to go all the way down (to Fort Myers) to play Boston (on Thursday).”
After two seasons curtailed by soft tissue injuries, Bregman played a team-high 155 games last year and took a club-leading 656 plate appearances. He slashed .259/.366/.454 despite a subpar start to his season. Bregman slugged .515 and had an .894 OPS in 67 games after the All Star break.
“He is more ready now than he was last year,” Baker said. “To me, he’s in great shape. He looks good, moving good, moving well. I think he’s going to have a big year.”