Sadly He Won’t play Again Until 2025
The announcement that He would not pitch this season wasn’t a surprise if you followed recent developments.
Simply, a pair of delays in his rehab this summer essentially cost him the necessary time required to return in 2024. While it stings from a depth chart perspective, especially for a roster already not well suited to absorb another pitcher injury, this development will now give García ample time to prepare himself for 2025.
Normally, I wouldn’t spend an entire post on this kind of news, at least for a pitcher who has logged no innings in the current year. But I was waiting for an opportunity to write about García again since he had Tommy John surgery early last season and I thought right now isn’t a bad time.
He’s in the news, after all. I mean, is it the best time? Probably not. But when the heart is set on a topic sometimes it is better just to write and get it out of the way. And, honestly, I don’t think I can wait until 2025. This post has been in my drafts for a while. It was a bummer when García was lost due to Tommy John and it remains so now that his return is further delayed.
Before the start of every season, I make a note of pitches to monitor and watch closely. Some of those pitches are the primary pitch in an arsenal. Cristian Javier’s four-seam has been on that list for a while. Framber Valdez’s sinker. There were also times when the pitch to watch was secondary, such as when it was Hunter Brown’s cutter or slider. García’s cutter fits under the second category based on its usage throughout his career, but he did something interesting to start the 2023 season: Throw his cutter more often, to the point where it became his primary offering.
Dating back to 2021, the data indicated that García’s cutter was arguably his best pitch. For example, a plus-40% whiff rate, averaging from 44% to 46% against right-handed hitters. He even started using it as a primary pitch against left-handed hitters, running a lowered but still impressive whiff rate of around 34%. But García’s cutter compared to the league average cutter has some key differences. For one, it exhibited considerably more glove-side movement than the league average from 2021-24. It can run away from right-handed hitters or in on left-handed hitters. Secondly, it also possessed notably more vertical break than the league average, by roughly four inches. That’s not a small difference in the world of baseball.
It certainly wasn’t a coincidence that García had arguably one of the best stretches of his career in the two starts before his elbow gave out (13 innings, no earned runs, 16 strikeouts, and only three walks). That was also when his cutter was at its best. It is a shame that we won’t see him pitch this season, but the decision is completely justifiable. It was the right decision for García. Alas, it doesn’t take the sting out of what could’ve been for the past year or more. Hopefully, García can pick up where he left off in 2025. I know that I’ll be anxiously waiting to see how continues to evolve as a pitcher.
