With a walk-off in Game 1 and a postseason RBI record, Garcia seems to have come out of nowhere -- but it's been a long journey to World Series stardom.
ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.After bursting onto the scene in the summer of 2021, García has spent the fall of 2023 putting together one of the most captivating postseason performances in baseball history, dazzling with his glove and his legs and, mostly, his bat.
It was six years ago that García left friends and family behind in Cuba and went to Japan as a springboard to come to the United States and fulfill his dream of reaching the majors. He signed for a relatively small amount, was passed over twice -- including by the Rangers. He didn't carve out a full-time role in the big leagues until he neared the end of his 20s. But he always believed moments like these were possible.
When García defected from Cuba in summer 2016 -- he had already had an MVP season for Serie Nacional, the country's professional league, and a brief stint with theof the Japan Eastern League -- he was nearing his 24th birthday, relatively old for an international signee. The St. Louis Cardinals signed him for $2.5 million in February 2017, bouncing him between Double-A and Triple-A, plus a cup of coffee in the majors, before designating him for assignment in December 2019.
From 2017 to 2019, García had accumulated 366 strikeouts in 368 minor league games, a stretch in which he walked less than 5% percent of the time. Breaking balls in particular bothered him. The Rangers spent a sizable chunk of 2020 remaking García's swing, incorporating a toe-tap to keep him more lateral and eliminating excess movement to help shorten his swing path.
"It's pretty cool," Ecker said."For his age, he's really in Year 3. He's figuring out the game, he's figuring out Major League Baseball, and it's pretty special that in Year 3 he's making these types of strides. It's kind of scary what could be possible for this guy."seen a player get booed so roundly. Before running the Rangers' baseball-operations department, Young spent 14 years pitching in the major leagues.
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