Edgar Garcia

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Philadelphia Phillies #16 prospect in 2019
  Track Record: The Phillies signed Garcia for $30,000 out of the Dominican Republic when he was 17. While Garcia started 15 games in 2017 after opening the year in the bullpen, he was strictly a reliever last season for Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley, with his 10.3 K/9 at Reading the highest strikeout rate at any level of his career.
  
  Scouting Report: Garcia has solid-average control of a fastball that grew as the season went on, sitting at 90-92 mph early and getting to 92-95 mph by the end of the year. He can scrape 96 mph, with his fastball producing lively armside run and sink. Garcia's best pitch, however, is his plus slider--a swing-and-miss weapon to both righties and lefties with hard downward action. Garcia has a show-me changeup in his repertoire, but he leans on his fastball and slider, sometimes throwing more sliders than fastballs.
  
  The Future: Garcia could open the year back in Triple-A, but if he's pitching well he should make his major league debut in 2019. His fastball/sldier mix should allow him to become an effective middle reliever.
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  Ranked Philadelphia Phillies #28 prospect in 2018
  Garcia rose through the system primarily as a reliever after signing for $30,000 in 2014. He opened 2017 in the high Class A Clearwater bullpen before moving to the rotation in mid-May. Garcia could still end up in the bullpen, but the Phillies wanted to develop him as a starter to give him more opportunities to pitch off his fastball and develop his changeup. He is a good athlete whose two primary weapons are his fastball and slider. He throws his fastball in the low to mid-90s and finishes hitters with a plus slider. He leaned heavily on his slider in the bullpen, so moving to a starting role forced Garcia to throw his fastball more, and his command of that pitch needs to improve. He rarely threw his changeup in the bullpen, and while he used it more as a starter, it's still a below-average pitch. Garcia has the stuff to miss bats, but he's still learning touch and feel and how to set up hitters. Double-A Reading is next for Garcia in 2018.
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  Ranked Philadelphia Phillies #24 prospect in 2016
  Dominican righthanders Franklyn Kilome and Adonis Medina stand as the Phillies' most promising international arms. Fellow countryman Garcia lurks in the next tier behind that pair. He signed with the Phillies in 2013 and made a smooth transition from the Dominican Summer League to the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League in 2015, when he brandished a 34-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 32 innings. Garcia starts his arsenal with an above-average fastball in the 93-95 mph range and complements the pitch with a powerful low- to mid-80s slider that projects as an out pitch. He also throws a changeup, but it's in the nascent stages at this point, and he hasn't thrown it much while working primarily as a reliever. His command is a tick below-average. As a 6-foot righthander, Garcia will have to deal with the stigma that comes with being on the short side, especially because his delivery is high-effort. Even so, his fastball/slider combination and ability to throw strikes gives him plenty of promise going forth, particularly if he stays in the bullpen. He's a candidate to begin 2016 at low Class A Lakewood.