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Martire Garcia will be in the Texas Rangers' major league camp this spring, per reports that came out yesterday. Guys being NRIs is usually not really news, but in this case, I think it is noteworthy.
Martire Garcia is a lefthanded reliever who turns 25 on March 1 of this year. He was originally signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Minnesota Twins, and pitched in their system before being released by Minnesota in May, 2011.
The Rangers signed him in the 2013-14 offseason to what was apparently a two year minor league deal, as he wasn't listed as a minor league free agent this past offseason. Garcia impressed in his first couple of outings at AA Frisco, making Tepid swoon:
Martire Garcia might be a dude. Lefty reliever: FB 92-95, SL 80-83.
— Tepid Participation (@TepidP) April 6, 2014
@thoughtbomb Oh man,not really. Martire Garcia is in now, and I'm liking him more and more each time.
— Tepid Participation (@TepidP) April 8, 2014
Martire with 4K in 2ip. Gave up a single, HBP. An arm to watch in Frisco this season.
— Tepid Participation (@TepidP) April 8, 2014
Alas, after those two outings, Garcia didn't pitch again until June -- he got popped with a 50 game suspension for testing positive for Clomiphene, a "selective estrogen receptor modulator" that, according to Wikipedia, is widely proscribed to induce ovulation.
After his suspension, Garcia spent about three weeks pitching for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans before getting bumped to AA Frisco in mid-July. After a month with Frisco, Garcia finished out the season with four appearances for Round Rock. Overall, Garcia put up a 2.57 ERA in 42 IP, with 40 Ks against 23 walks.
Here's your 140 character report on Martire from Tepid:
Martire Garcia is good. Slingy lefty, FB 90-94 T96 with a good 2-plane SL. Had a little issue with female fertility pills, but who hasn't!
— Tepid Participation (@TepidP) February 3, 2015
As we've discussed, the Rangers don't have much in the way of options from the left side in the bullpen for 2015. Alex Claudio is on the 40 man roster and Michael Kirkman is in camp on a minor league deal, and Ross Detwiler will be in the mix if he doesn't make the rotation.
But it looks like Garcia will at least get a look this spring as well. He's still a long-shot to make the club out of spring training, but he's a lefty with pretty solid stuff, and with a good camp, he could be this year's Pedro Figueroa (though hopefully without the April torn UCL).
