The St. Louis Cardinals are poised to have a strong pitching rotation this summer with the likes of Adam Wainwright, Carlos Martinez, Michael Wacha and newcomer Mike Leake.
But don't sleep on Jamie Garcia.
Last year, the southpaw won 10 games and suffered six losses in 20 starts. He produced an above average 2.43 ERA and WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) of 1.049. Very respectable.
Garcia, 29, has had his injury battles in years past. In 2014, Garcia needed season-ending thoracic outlet surgery to relieve nerve issues in his pitching arm. He made just nine starts the year prior before needing season-ending surgery to repair tears in his rotator cuff and labrum. And he caught himself on the disabled list last season with a groin injury.
This man has seen his fair share of disappointment. That doesn't mean that as a pitcher, he can't contribute to his team. Last Thursday, Garcia tossed a one-hit shutout against the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium. His "stuff" was demoralizing for Brewers hitters.
"The thing they (the hitters) talked about was the movement on every pitch," said Brewers manager Craig Counsell after the game Thursday. "On the sinker. On the changeup, which was acting like a split-finger. He had plus-plus movement today, late movement." Counsell's right. Brewers hitters looked foolish at the plate. Garcia was carving the Milwaukee lineup up and down all afternoon.
It will be imperative for Garcia to continue this success as the season goes forward, and he must stay healthy too. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny had no issues praising his starting pitcher after last week's stellar performance. "No matter what pitch he wanted to throw up there, if he was locating it, which he was, had a good chance of something happening his way," Matheny said. "He just had it all going."
Garcia usually feels much more comfortable on the mound at Busch Stadium than he does on the road. At home last season Garcia yielded a 1.70 ERA, compared to a road ERA that totaled 3.25. This isn't to say that Garcia can't get things done on the road, but more of the fact that he is superb at home. Garcia is even better during day games, in which he had a 2.31 day ERA over the course of a three year span from 2013 to 2015.
One surprising stat of Garcia's is that he actually pitches better against right-handed batters than he does left-handed batters. Normally a left-handed pitcher, like Garcia, would fare better against left-handed batters. However, that's not the case here. Over that same three year span from 2013 to 2015, left-handed batters hit .289 against Garcia. Right-handed batters hit just .220 off of Garcia during that time frame.
For the Cardinals to be in the postseason hunt this year, Garcia needs to remain healthy. If he does so, he can be one of the most dominant pitchers in the league. Unfortunately he's full of uncertianties, so just about anything can happen. Stay tuned.
