21-year-old Deivi Garcia will get the nod in game two of the ALCS on Tuesday night, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch and others (via Twitter). Amazingly, Garcia will be the youngest pitcher to start a playoff game in Yankees’ postseason history and the 5th-youngest in AL postseason history, per ESPN’s Marly Rivera and ESPN Stats Info (via Twitter).
It’s a bold stroke for manager Aaron Boone. Garcia made just 6 starts during the regular season in his first taste of big league action. Garcia held his own, going 3-2 with a 4.98 ERA/4.15 FIP and 8.7 K/9 to 1.6 BB/9. His command was particularly impressive, never having limited free passes at such a stringent rate at any point in his minor league career when it’s typical for young players to struggle more with their command upon promotion to the bigs. Garcia’s 5’9″ stature and electric stuff has drawn comparisons to Pedro Martinez early in his career, and while that’s quite a lofty comparison at this stage, he certainly looks more and more like a player with cult potential in New York.
Over the small sample of major league innings we’ve seen thus far, Garcia averages a 91.9 mph four-seamer that serves as the bedrock offering in his arsenal, throwing it about 60% of the time, often up. The Dominican righty utilizes a 80.6 mph change-up away against lefties while mixing in a breaking ball about 12.5% of the time. Against right-handed batters, he goes to a slider/curveball combo more frequently, giving equal love to the slider and curve for a total usage rate of about 33%. He was the Yankees #1 prospect coming into the season.
It will be interesting to see how Boone chooses to manage Garcia. He could easily plan to pull the rookie after one or (likely at-most) two turns through the Rays lineup, though he’ll be helped by the fact that Rays hitters have not seen him in-game before. Boone has a number of long relievers he can call on to piggyback with Garcia if he so chooses. Luis Cessa, Jonathan Loaisiga, Jordan Montgomery, Nick Nelson, and Michael King all have experience starting in the minor leagues. Montgomery might be the most-likely go-to, both because of his relatively strong season (3.87 FIP across 10 starts, 44 innings), but also because the southpaw might see platoon advantages, depending on how long Garcia goes and how aggressive the Rays are with their substitutions. The Rays tend to be fairly aggressive with pinch-hitters, even early in games, so platoon advantage alone likely won’t dictate much of the Yankees’ thinking early in the contest.
Masahiro Tanaka, then, will get the start in game three. The veteran weathered a tough outing in game two against Cleveland in the Wild Card round. Tanaka survived just four innings, walking three, yielding 5 hits, and 6 earned runs. The Yankees, of course, ultimately rallied to win the game and seal the series. Tanaka threw 77 pitches, and given the 6 full days he’ll have off between starts, he should be more than ready for Wednesday’s game three.
Does two things, it lengthens the rotation so you don’t have 2 less experience starters pitching back to back, it gives Tanaka another days rest which has shown to work well for him. Also for what it’s the Rays have not seen him yet this year. I like the move, hopefully Devi can shine and give them 6 strong.
They will be happy with 2 strong.
Excited to see him pitch in the playoffs! Probably the smart #2 for the Yankees
I like it.
Tanaka goes game 3. This hopefully takes some pressure off Deivi. Boone, I mean the front office, making a good decision.
Alright.
That’s the blueprint. Just gotta execute now.
Yanks in 4.
It’s really the best option, but given this playoff format, the Yankees’ chances in this series rest squarely on Cole winning the opener.
I had that thought too. Makes game 1 that much more important to the Yankees.
Pitching depth is going to matter like never before. A complete reversal to how the Nats operated in 2019. Pre-pandemic, a lot of teams were probably thinking of going that route.
I imagine they may have Monty go a couple as sort of a piggy back
Garcia in Game two only makes sense if Cole wins game one.
The Astros just doubled up the A’s 10-5 in Los Angeles. No clanging & banging of trash cans there!!! That’s 2 wins in Minnesota and 1 in Los Angeles, so far. Where’s all of the self-righteous judgemental complainers now ? Please, can you explain to me how they are winning these games on the road? Oh yeah, I forgot they’re a real good baseball team. Let’s go Rays. Let’s go Braves. Let’s go Padres and (yes) Let’s go Astros.
You seem determined to start an argument. Why?
Not really trying to START an argument. Just fed up with all of the hypocritical comments for months AND months AND months of the “trashtro’s”, Houston cheated etc. So I thought I’d beat all of THOSE commentators to the punch for a change.
Except they did cheat. There is no legitimate argument to the contrary. Btw, as a Dodgers fan, I believe the Astros would not have won the 2017 World Series without cheating. My evidence is Game 5. Yet at the same time, I am way over 2017. I don’t live in the past. Nor do I think winning the World Series is the only thing that matters in baseball. While I would like to see the Dodgers win a World Series, losing it does not take away from a fantastic being able to watch that team every day. Both on the field and off, my team does things the right way. The best organization in the sport with a roster full of likable players. No Jose Altuves or Eric Gagnes are present on this particular roster. The Astros have a long ways to go before being on that level. In some ways, they are still an expansion team.
They did cheat
Prospect, I’m not sure you know the meaning of the word hypocrite.
Badfinger: Ye who is blameless, throw the first stone. I’m absolutely,positively NOT saying that the Astros didn’t cheat (during PREVIOUS seasons). They did, some of them came clean and the organization has been, rightfully punished. The continual barrage of social media accusations and failure to move on is what has me fed up. I’m not an Astros apologist nor am I an Astros fan. I’m not making excuses, just stating examples: corked bats, doctoring the baseball, steroids & other PED’s (including prior steroid era yrs & decades) CHEATED the game. The players aren’t perfect, even if we expect them to be. They’re flawed, just like YOU & ME. There’s no video system this year, so I’m just saying if you’re going to show 1 side of an argument, don’t forget to look at the other side of it as well.
Dodgers had Chase Utley on that roster so 2017 WS we were guaranteed to having one cheat scumbag team win either way. Dodgers do things right way? Is that why your team injures people on purpose? If MlB cared about integrity the Astros,Dodgers,Yanks,Cardinals and Red Sox would be stripped of their records last 2.5 decades with all the cheating these teams have done.
you’re a joke, just like the asstros
Pinstripes17:Your comment is EXACTLY my point! You just made an asstro-nomical foolish comment. Your handle makes it sound like you’re a NYY fan. If so, how many “cheaters” did you root for during “the steroid era”? Like I mentioned previously, I’m just fed up with the hypocrisy of some people.
they’re professional baseball players, no one is can take away the skill it takes to succeed. however they utilized a scheme that unfairly enhanced their decision making. hence the 2017 vs 2020 for OBS &OPS. Altuve: .410/.286 & .957/.629. For me jury is out on Bregman. I dont think Correa or Springer really were benefitting or actively participating. However Altuve has much more evidence against him than anyone.
@Prospectnvstr- No trash cans? How bout the buzzer though?
Do you REALLY think that they’re using a buzzer, this year? How would they be getting the information? Especially now, in the playoffs, when they played 2 games in Minnesota and 1 game in Dodgers stadium (so far), how would they get this buzzer technology to work? Who is relaying the info?
I know this isn’t really related but is Wainwright gonna try to get into broadcasting? I just read that he was going to help with the braves Marlins broadcast tomorrow. Does that mean he’s hanging up the cleats?
The Astros are a good baseball team and they have good players so why cheat. They probably win without cheating. They didn’t need to cheat but did.
Other teams cheated as well. There’s already been three teams that have been busted and it’s naive to believe others didn’t as well.
No swings and misses against Kershaw? Sorry, but you excusing the Astros’ cheating is laughable. Legacies were affected, an MVP award was stolen. All because the Astros did things the wrong way. The Astros were proven to be cheaters. That’s different than believing other teams cheated without presenting a shred of evidence. Yet you choose to defend them. Welcome to America in 2020.
So Goat then why were the Astros the only team sanctioned ..are you saying they were singled out while others were ignored?…..maybe because they were so blatantly smug about it all the while denying it the way they did……if other teams were guilty of the same, where was the evidence and if so there would have been sanctions by MLB to those teams…..maybe we (you) stop making excuses for the Astros being singled out.
They were investigated in 2017. The league didn’t care until it became public. It’s why the Yankees and Red Sox getting slaps on the wrists for their “investigations” don’t matter. The league can’t or won’t do anything.
Don’t be naive rocky. Former players say it was a league wide issue. Beltran brought the damn system with him from NY. But the head in the sand solution is fine with you, just like it was with the league, right?
Thanks for the info. I’m really looking forward to hearing Wainwright in the broadcast booth. However, this is nothing new as active players have participated in post-season broadcasts before. Still, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Wainwright is testing things out as a possible future career. I heard him interviewed during some YouTube games and he seems like a natural for broadcasting. Excellent insights and more personable than many guys who have been doing it for years.
I really haven’t kept up too much with the Yankee – Rays rivalry. Read an article in the Athletic that the rivalry goes back to 2018 when CC drilled a Ray, and then yelled at him all the while “adjusting his cup”…… or something to that effect. Kinda reminds me of a prize fight several years back between Marvelous Marvin Hagler / Thomas Hit Man Hearns.. You just had to know one or both were gonna get their brains beat out. Hope for some excitement.
if you ever want to get more insight to this. Ryan Raburn and CC do a podcast. look up the episode following that date. if anything listen to other episodes they are really well done. but also give you exposure to how CC is and was as a player and a man. he is a hell of a teammate. he was protecting his teammate, but he didn’t yell at Chirnos he yelled at the dugout where the pitcher was who hit Romine.
Ryan Ruocco sorry. It’s called R2C2
Not going to lie, Ryan Raburn and CC doing a podcast together would be last on my list for two people doing a podcast together. What’s the story on that?
not Raburn, its Ruocco, mistyped. however they interview all types of players. listen to the early ones with Arod, Jeter. they also have nba players on, so look at the list and choose a few. without bring bias, I like the real true behind the scenes and honest talk that goes on it. even the Arod surprised me. he’s swearing and sounds like an actual person.
Was just talking to my friend about this… would Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Miguel Andujar and Devi Garcia be enough to get Mike Trout?
No. Mike Trout means more to the Angels more than any other team. It’s the equivalent of trading Derek Jeter after he helped the team win their second WS in three years. LAA needs a lot of starting pitching.
I personally just don’t think the Yankees should sign Judge to a big extension when his arb years run out when he’s 31 and he hasn’t shown ability to stay healthy consistently so we were discussing if there’s anyone even worth trading for him, he brought up Trout and I said how immovable he is for the reason you mentioned, he rattled off those 4 players and I still thought Cashman gets hung up on
What would the Angels be trying to accomplish? That package wouldn’t transform them into contenders. In the unlikely possibility that they trade Trout, it would be to rebuild. The person who rattled off those names is probably a Yankees fan who is leery about Judge’s health/contract status, down on Andujar and Sanchez, and unconvinced that Garcia can become a top-tier starter. If the Angels did put Trout on the market, they would probably get quite a few better offers.
Agreed from an on-the-field performance standpoint. However, if he helps the NYY win a ring before then, I think that there is always a chance that they do. He’s highly-likeable/marketable to the team and fills in seats. Judge also knows his endorsements earning potential by staying in NY so hopefully he won’t demand a 9+ year contract.
not enough. it would have to start with a younger controllable asset like Torres. Then proven major league talent with all star potential like Fraizer. Then fleece the starting prospects like Garcia and Clarke. and still probably more
The Angels would still be stuck with Pujols for another year and Upton for two. Sanchez, Andujar, Pujols, and Upton with combined WAR of minus-1.8 in the abbreviated season, plus-1.5 in 2019. Since Judge is not better than Trout, the trade would make the Angels an overall worse team.
Garcia then Green
What about Ja happ in game three?
Adam Ottavino Should had pitch the 9th he only had one really bad outing this season that has he’s Era high .he still has awesome stuff big bounce back year for him next year with the Yankees or not ..