Garcia Closes In On Hurricanes Record

CORAL GABLES, Fla.—Junior righthander Bryan Garcia, who is on his way this spring to possibly becoming the all-time saves leader for the tradition-rich Miami Hurricanes, is a big man on campus.

But he’s not too big.

Last fall, he approached Andrew Cabezas, a freshman from Coral Gables who was drafted in the 36th round by the Cleveland Indians. Garcia wanted Cabezas to teach him his slider.

“It’s wipeout,” Garcia said of his teammate’s key pitch.

Cabezas obliged. But with the season so close to starting, the experiment was shelved . . . or so it appeared.

In late March, Garcia asked Cabezas to play catch so he could check on his slider. Cabezas obliged again and was impressed at what he saw—in the pitch and in Garcia’s humility.

“His slider was completely nasty—not as good as mine—but really good,” Cabezas said with a smile. “But for him to trust a freshman, it just shows that no matter how good you are, you can always get better. It shows a lot about his character. No one is above him.”

There are very few above Garcia when it comes to saves.

After eight weeks this spring, Garcia has 10 saves and, with 35 for his career, is third on the Canes’ all-time list. Only George Huguet (39) and Rick Raether (37) have more. He has already passed Danny Graves (29), Jay Tessmer (23) and Chris Perez (20).

Miami’s great closers have all pitched in the College World Series. Garcia made his CWS debut last year, getting a victory in his only appearance.

Miami pitching coach J.D. Arteaga, who set Hurricanes records for wins and starts during his playing career, has a strong appreciation for the value of a closer.

“I’d trade two starters for a closer any day of the week,” Arteaga said.

Garcia worked both as a starter and a closer at Miami Columbus High, but both he and the Miami coaching staff wanted him pitching at the end of games.

“Bryan is only the second pitcher I’ve had who asked to be the closer,” said coach Jim Morris, who arrived in Miami in 1994 and on March 27 won his 1,000th game as the Canes coach. “The other was Robbie Morrison.”

Garcia, a 6-foot-1, 205-pounder, hasn’t slowed down since. He went 7-4, 1.75 with 15 saves as a freshman and 6-2, 2.50 with 10 saves last year. He made second-team all-Atlantic Coast Conference as a freshman and third team as a sophomore.

He added eight more saves in the first month of the 2016 season and has been effective despite losing his most trusted set-up men.

Lefthanders Mike Mediavilla and Danny Garcia, who combined to make 49 relief appearances last year, have become weekend starters. Righthanders Sam Abrams and Daniel Briggi, who combined for 38 relief appearances last year, graduated.

And in the biggest blow of all, junior Cooper Hammond, who has been Garcia’s primary set-up man for two-plus years with 79 relief appearances, went down with an arm injury in a game against Maine on March 8.

“When it happened, all our hearts sunk,” Garcia said of Hammond, who did not have surgery and hopes to return by late April. “When you see a pitcher grab his elbow, you have a bad feeling.”

Garcia has a four-pitch arsenal, but pro scouts see him as a reliever in the long run. That’s all right with Garcia, who enjoys the adrenaline rush of closing.

Garcia, whose fastball is usually in the range of 92-94 mph, throws more changeups to lefthanded hitters and more sliders to righthanded hitters. His curve is a pitch he generally throws early in a count as a change-of-pace strike.

But according to Arteaga, Garcia’s biggest strength is his character and competitiveness.

A fun-loving kid off the mound, Garcia is transformed as soon as he goes to work.

“Everyone who knows me will tell you I’m a funny guy, cracking jokes—not a very serious guy,” Garcia said. “But once I warm up, I don’t know what happens. Something changes.

“I hate the other team. Even if I have friends on the other team, I hate them. I guess that helps me. I’ve heard that it looks like I’m pissed on the mound. It’s not like I’m trying to do that. It just happens.”