New Pirates Outfielder Standing Out at Spring Training
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates made some important additions this offseason, including one player that could develop into a huge part of their future.
The Pirates landed outfielder Jhostynxon García in the five-player trade with the Boston Red Sox on Dec. 4, which mostly centered around them sending right-handed starting pitcher Johan Oviedo the other way.
García arrived down to Pirate City in Bradenton, Fla., where he'll get a chance to ingratiate himself with his Pirates teammates and work to get a spot on the Opening Day roster.
Pirates manager Don Kelly was already impressed with what he saw from García, both at the plate and the work he's done there, but also his improvements defensively.
“Yeah, exciting!" Kelly said in a video from DK Pittsburgh Sports. "I mean, when you see him swing the bat. I don’t know if you all got to see him shag in center field, the way him and Oneil [Cruz] were getting after it on Field 4 during [batting practice], he was getting really good jumps. There’s speed there and we see the power.
“He’s talked about discipline at the plate, working on his swing decisions and cutting down on strikeouts. He’s been working hard at that and you talk about another young, exciting guy that we were able to add and the impact and the ceiling is really high."
Kelly, who played on a number of teams during his professional career, knows the difficulty of making new relationships. He was already impressed with García starting his time down in Bradenton, working on the personal side of the game, which will surely help him over the next month or so.
“It’s always good to do that and for him, coming to a new team, I’m sure, the unknown and the relationship building and everything that goes into that," Kelly said. "To be able to dive into that before camp starts and get to know people’s names and where to go and know what field is which number so that you don’t get lost throughout the course of a spring. He’s done a really good job.”
What the Pirates Get in García
Jhostynxon García, whose first name is pronounced "JOES-tin-son", also holds the nickname, "The Password", due to the interesting nature of how his first name is spelled.
García joined the Pirates as a top 100 prospect in baseball, with MLB Pipeline ranking him 85th overall, but recently fell off the list in a re-ranking for the 2026 season.
He still possesses great power, as Kelly mentioned, and is coming off of 23 home runs in 2024 and 21 home runs this past season.
García slashed .267/.340/.470 for an OPS of .810 in 114 games across Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester, but his best play came in the 88 games at Triple-A in 2025
Stat | Total |
|---|---|
Batting Average | .271 |
On-Base Percentage | .334 |
Slugging Percentage | .498 |
OPS | .832 |
Hits | 86 |
Runs Scored | 60 |
Doubles | 12 |
Triples | 3 |
Home Runs | 18 |
RBI | 58 |
Walks/Strikeouts | 27/102 |
García has a beautiful swing that sees him open up his body and crush balls in the zone, punishing pitchers for leaving balls for him to send out for a home run.
He does tend to pull the ball for a right-handed batter, but this works well in PNC Park, which is deeper in right-center field than it is closer to the foul pole.
García also can play all three outfield positions, but features mostly in center field, then at right field and a little bit in left field. This gives the Pirates options on where to put him, but also could serve as a backup for Oneil Cruz, putting him at designated hitter at times too.
While there are great things about his game, Garcia does have a high strikeout rate, 24.0% in 2024 and increasing to 30.1% this past season, something Kelly mentioned as well.
This comes from him going for power, which obviously comes with its risks, strikeouts, and also rewards, home runs.
He also struggles with offspeed pitches, with a whiff rate of 43.75% on the changeup and 43.69% on the slider, but does do better with higher velocity pitches, like the fastball and sinker.
García is solid against both right-handed pitching and left-handed pitching. He slashed .268/.339/.461 for an OPS of .800 against righties and .246/.348/.509 for an OPS of .857 against lefties.
Where He Projects for the Pirates in 2026
The Pirates are giving García a shot to make the team out of Spring Training, but won't rush him and will allow him to develop at Triple-A Indianapolis if needed, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic at the time of his trade.
García did make his MLB debut with the Red Sox last season, but only played in five games and went 1-for-7 from the plate.
The recently turned 23-year old is coming off a strong season in Triple-A, that saw him make the Futures Game.
Pittsburgh could use a left fielder next season and also acquired Jake Mangum in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays on Dec. 19.
García and Mangum likely fit into the plans at left field for the Pirates next season, so there's a chance he'll get some playing time, depending on his performances in Spring Training and then likely at Triple-A Indianapolis.
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.