Luis Garcia 2023 Player Outlook: Impressive Sophomore Season Provides More Optimism
2 years agoLuis Garcia followed up his impressive 2021 debut season with another equally productive campaign. In 157.1 IP last year, Garcia had a 15-8 W-L record, 3.72 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 157 Ks. His underlying numbers suggest he was as good as his results showed with a 3.59 xERA, 3.82 xFIP and 3.77 SIERA and although we saw a slight drop in his strikeout rate (26.4% K% in 2021 to 24.4% K% in 2022), Garcia cut down on the walks (from 7.9% BB% to 7.3% BB%). Garcia has a five-pitch arsenal allows him to throw his fastball less than most, which is important given their numbers. While his fastball had a .281 AVG against it last year and a .374 wOBA, his four secondary pitches all had a sub .205 AVG and .260 wOBA or better. Garcia's cutter (thrown 29.4% last year) had a 42.8% SwStr% while his other three offerings all had better than a 29.0% SwStr%. Garcia only threw his fastball 42.1% of the time and relying on his other offerings will be key if he is to maintain success. If he does that, Garcia's ADP of ~163 (45th starting pitcher) appears to provide plenty of fantasy value.