Elniery Garcia

Organization Prospect Rankings

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  Ranked Philadelphia Phillies #27 prospect in 2017
  Garcia is among the many hidden gems the Phillies have uncovered in Latin America and developed into quality pitching prospects. Garcia signed for $92,500 out of the Dominican Republic in 2011 and has steadily climbed up the ladder as a strike-throwing lefty with an improving fastball. His velocity jumped in 2016 to sit 90-93 mph and touch the mid-90s, with sneaky late life that allows him to get swings and misses when he pitches up in the zone. Garcia has a four-pitch mix with a curveball, changeup and slider. His curveball has good spin and shape to be an average pitch, though he's still learning how to land it for a strike. Garcia's changeup improved in 2016 and flashed as another average pitch. Garcia is athletic, pitches inside well, repeats his delivery and fills the strike zone, though his lack of a plus pitch leaves him with a modest strikeout rate. Added to the 40-man roster in November, Garcia will move to Double-A Reading in 2017 and could develop into a back-end starter.
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  Ranked Philadelphia Phillies #22 prospect in 2016
  Garcia teamed with righthander Ricardo Pinto at the outset of 2015 to add sizzle to a low Class A Lakewood rotation that ranked third in the South Atlantic League with a 3.27 ERA. Garcia, whose ERA ranked eighth in the league, is an athletic lefthander with a promising three-pitch mix as well as youth and athleticism on his side. He begins his repertoire with a lively fastball in the low 90s that tops out around 93 mph. He complements the pitch first with a downer curveball that, while still developing, evaluators see as a possible plus in the future. Garcia also throws a changeup in the low 80s, but the pitch is straight and flat at this point and clearly lags behind the curveball in terms of hierarchy among his secondary pitches. With high Class A Clearwater in 2016, he will work to fulfill his potential as a back-end starter.
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  Ranked Philadelphia Phillies #30 prospect in 2015
  The Rookie-level Gulf Coast League is full of arms easy to dream on, and Garcia is one of the Phillies' most intriguing. He's a smooth lefthander with projection who started the year with short-season Williamsport, then missed a month with minor elbow issues before moving down to the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League. His fastball is 88-92 right now with a chance to add more velocity as he gains strength. Both of his secondary offerings are in the developmental stage, but his curveball, a true 12-6 breaker with bite in the low to mid-70s, is the better of the two. He's likely to return to extended spring and then Williamsport in 2015.