Nick Garcia, Pirates Enter Division III Draft Lore

Image credit: (Photo by Larry Newman Photography)

Ben Cherington played Division III baseball at Amherst (Mass.) College. In all his time playing at that level, the Pirates general manager never saw a player like Nick Garcia.

“He’s a much different animal than I certainly was or anyone I can remember playing against,” Cherington said. “It probably makes you wonder how he ended up there.”

The Pirates drafted Garcia, the righthander from Division III Chapman (Calif.) in the third round, No. 79 overall, on Thursday night.

In doing so, they made Garcia the second-highest Division III pitcher drafted in the last 25 years behind only Jordan Zimmerman, who was drafted by the Nationals in the second round in 2007.

“There have been some really good players to come out of Division III,” Cherington said. “We’re banking on Nick to be another one.”

Garcia, a 6-foot-2 righthander with a fastball that has touched 98 mph, entered Chapman as a third baseman before converting to the mound as a sophomore. He was the closer on Chapman’s Division III College World Series title team and was named Most Outstanding Player of the College World Series. He moved to the rotation this spring and showed a mid-90’s fastball with two potential above-average secondary pitches.

Area scout Brian Tracy tracked Garcia’s progress closely over the last year. When the time came to make their third-round pick, the Pirates didn’t hesitate.

“His size, the way it works, the athleticism, watching him throughout scouts lenses the last 8-12 months,” scouting director Joe Dellicarri said. “(We were) watching him grow, watching the small progress that he has made along each step that we’ve seen him. And then getting to see the foundation come to fruition a little bit that we feel can work with and really, really help.”

Tracy is also the area scout for second-round pick Jared Jones, a righthander out of La Mirada (Calif.) High that also pumps fastballs in the upper 90s. In getting two pitchers with premium stuff, Dellicarri tipped his cap to Tracy.

“Brian’s very well trusted of our group,” Dellicarri said. “He’s known Jared Jones since eighth grade. And then  Nick Garcia, you lean on your scouts to share with you the things that are subtle in their growth, in their development, even though it’s a shorter period of time for Nick.

“As a group as a whole we leaned on the guys a lot for the decisions that we didn’t make as well as the ones that we did make, and Brian did a good job in this case on these two guys.”

Overall, the Pirates drafted five straight pitchers after selecting New Mexico State shortstop Nick Gonzales seventh overall.

The fact that a Division III pitcher was among them, in Cherington’s eyes, is a testament to just how rare a talent Garcia is.

“I think at the end of the day, wherever it is and whatever level it is, there are opportunities to get better,” Cherington said. “As Joe said, he’s got a lot of really good pitcher traits we look for: size, delivery, arm action, what he can do to make the baseball spin. We’re really excited to work with him.”