Danny Garcia was a solid pitcher for UM. Garcia’s numbers were nothing spectacular, but often pitchers stats are inflated in college because of metal bats. Danny showed enough promise in his time at The U to be drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 15th Round of the 2016 MLB Draft. Hopefully he is successful in the majors and we will certainly miss him in Coral Gables

High School: Garcia attended Westwood Christian in Miami, FL for high school. After posting an amazing 1.85 ERA in his Senior season Garcia was named to the All-Dade County First-Team. Danny also holds the Westwood Christian record for strikeouts. Danny was not drafted and enrolled at Miami.

Freshman Year: Danny appeared in 11 games, mostly as a reliever. He had three starts on the season and most of his appearances didn’t last long, as his longest outing for the season was 4.2 innings. Garcia showed some promise in this season, however he finished with a lowly 6.30 ERA, although this was in limited action. Danny looked to make a bigger impact in his sophomore season.

Sophomore Year: This year Danny was relied upon as the team’s Wednesday starter (#4 Starter) and the primary lefty out of the pen’ on the weekends. He led the team in strikeouts with 80, and finished with a strong 3.69 ERA, (remember ERA is often inflated by metal bats in college). Danny was also a winner during the season, going 7-1, albeit against weaker competition as he started on Wednesdays. Nonetheless Danny was expected to anchor the 2016 rotation as a junior.

Junior Year: Danny finally made his move to the weekend rotation last season and impressed. Garcia went 9-5 and finished with a 3.57 ERA against some of the toughest competition in the nation in the ACC. He also held opponents to a .271 batting average against, which is very solid in the college game, and allowed less than 3 runs in 14 of 18 starts on the year. Danny had a very impressive start against Stetson in the Coral Gables Regional last year as he only allowed 4 hits against him for the entire game. Danny was named to the 2016 Coral Gables Regional All-Tournament Team for his performance in this game. Garcia was a solid starter for UM in his junior year, and often showed glimpses of becoming a completely unhittable pitcher.

Professional Career and Future Hopes: After his strong junior season the Seattle Mariners used their 15th Round Pick on Danny in the 2016 MLB Draft. Danny was assigned to the Everett AquaSox, the Mariners Class A Short-Season affiliate. Danny went 6-2 in his time with the AquaSox and had a 3.59 ERA. Danny needs to become the dominant pitcher he showed flashes of becoming in college in Class A Short-Season before he can be called up, so this coming season don’t be surprised to see Danny in Class A Short-Season again. Danny should grow in maturity and should adjust to the professional game, and I would expect a call-up to Class A by the end of the season, and possibly Class A Advanced. The other factor in Danny’s development will also be how he develops, whether it be as a starter or reliever. I think of Danny as more of a reliever, a lefty with zip as they like to say in the MLB, out of the bullpen. Danny’s dominance can often be seen better in short bursts rather than long stretches over an entire start, but once again if Garcia can be consistent he could become a very dominant starter.

Conclusion: Danny is a very solid pitcher with good velocity. He has shown flashes of total dominance at every level he has played at and for him the key will be capturing the dominance he occasionally exhibits. Part of why pitchers are often the most difficult players to scout is that it is difficult to truly scout how they will adapt to the different levels of the game, and it is extremely difficult to scout how pitchers will capitalize on their talent. If Danny stays healthy, which can be difficult for a pitcher, and can capture at least some of the dominance he has occasionally shown and become consistent with it, expect him to become very successful. However this task is easier said than done for pitchers, but hopefully Danny becomes another highly successful MLB ProCane, but to do this Danny will have to play to his full abilities CONSISTENTLY.

Wishing Danny all the best!