A bullpen prospect could be the Mariners’ next hidden gem

On the pitching side, the Seattle Mariners have a reputation for transforming hidden gems into highly effective major league arms.

Have expectations changed for M’s Julio Rodríguez?

They did so with once-unheralded prospect Bryan Woo. They did so with castaway MLB relievers like Paul Sewald, Justin Topa and Gabe Speier.

Who could be the next success story? One name drawing some early buzz for this season is 24-year-old left-hander Brandyn Garcia.

Garcia had a relatively underwhelming college career at Quinnipiac University and Texas A&M, but the Mariners saw enough potential to draft him in the 11th round of the 2023 MLB Draft.

That decision certainly seems to be paying off.

The 6-foot-4 Garcia excelled in his first full pro season last year, posting a 2.25 ERA with 134 strikeouts over 116 innings split between High-A Everett and Double-A Arkansas. Along the way, he shot up the prospect rankings while flustering batters with multiple above-average pitches and a tricky three-quarters delivery.

WELCOME TO THE ROCK, BRANDYN GARCIA 🌟

Final line of his AA debut:

5.0 IP | 0 H | 0 R | 2 BB | 8 K pic.twitter.com/t0kPqoFFYa

— Arkansas Travelers (@ARTravs) July 2, 2024

On this week’s edition of the Hot Stove on Seattle Sports, Mariners general manager Justin Hollander named Garcia as a potential candidate to earn a big league bullpen spot early this season.

“We think there’s a chance for real impact from the left side,” Hollander said. “He’s really tough on left-handed hitters. His ball moves everywhere, and we do think he could be a dynamic reliever sometime early in the season with the major league club if he keeps progressing like he has.”

Garcia has experience as both a starter and reliever. He primarily started during his three years at Quinnipiac, then moved to the bullpen for his one year at Texas A&M before moving back to a starting role in the Mariners’ farm system.

And now, he’s headed back to the bullpen with a chance to earn a spot on the big league club.

But Hollander said that doesn’t rule out the possibility of him becoming a starter again down the road.

“He’s multi-inning capable at a minimum,” Hollander said. “His ability to kill a changeup at the front of the plate really does give him the ability to be somewhat platoon-neutral, and that’s really critical if you’re gonna pitch over multiple innings because he doesn’t need to be purely situational.”

Brandyn Garcia’s repertoire

According to Baseball America, Garcia’s pitch mix includes a mid-90s sinker that runs in on lefty batters and an 85 mph slider with massive sweep. The result is a lot of missed bats and a lot of ground balls.

Out of 182 qualified minor league pitchers who pitched at High-A or above last season, Garcia ranked ninth in groundball rate (53.4%) and 33rd in strikeout rate (27.0%), according to Fangraphs.

“We think by the time camp ends, he’ll have four pitches he’s confident with – two fastballs, a slider and a changeup,” Hollander said. “And from the release height that he throws from, it’s just a really different look. We have had success with some guys that throw from generally that area in the past.

“And I don’t want to put it unfair to him and say he’s the next Paul Sewald or something like that. But he does do a lot of interesting things and really has the ability to throw strikes at a high volume.”

The Hot Stove airs from 7-9 p.m. Tuesday nights on Seattle Sports 710 AM, the Seattle Sports app and SeattleSports.com. Hear this week’s full conversation with Justin Hollander at this link or in the player near the middle of this post.

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