Yankees Are Hopeful Deivi García Can Learn From 'Growing Pains' in Triple-A

NEW YORK — This time last year, Deivi García was preparing to make his MLB debut, shoving six shutout innings against the Mets on August 30.  

It was a glimpse into the future for the Yankees, a look at one of their top pitching prospects in action, showcasing how his stuff plays at the big-league level. 

The right-hander wound up pitching in six regular season games in a Yankees uniform during the pandemic-shortened campaign, even earning an appearance in October. 

That in mind, this season was poised to be a stepping stool for García, a full 162-game campaign where the top prospect could solidify his role on the big-league staff and continue to develop. Instead, García has taken steps back in 2021, posting numbers in Triple-A that have fans wondering what exactly went wrong. 

As of the prospect's most recent start with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders—lasting just one inning while giving up six hits and four runs—García has a 7.41 ERA over 15 outings in the minors this season. That's 45 earned runs in 54.2 innings pitched. 

The 22-year-old has struggled mightily to get outs (opponents have a .292 batting average against him) and the command issues that were talked about consistently last year have lingered (García has a career-high 6.42 walks per nine innings).

His poor performance this summer has precluded the right-hander from a shot to return to the Bronx. García made two appearances in a Yankees uniform earlier in the year, but has been relegated to Triple-A since May, watching as countless teammates have been promoted amid a tumultuous campaign full of injuries and COVID-19 outbreaks. 

It's easy to write off a prospect that's having a sophomore slump. García is ranked as New York's No. 3 prospect, per MLB.com, but there are still concerns about his unique delivery and his size playing at the next level. After all, if he couldn't take advantage of a prime opportunity to pitch in the big leagues this season, it's fair to wonder what the future holds for the prospect. 

Even if those concerns are warranted, and his numbers have certainly been an eyesore to follow this year, Yankees manager Aaron Boone isn't giving up on the right-hander. In fact, he believes this rough stretch can benefit him in the long run.

"He's a young man," Boone said Wednesday. "Sometimes, especially when you've had the kind of success that he's had, and you kind of rocket through the system, and you come up here last year, and have some varying degrees of success with us in the big leagues, sometimes you just expect it to be easy, and it's not. There's growing pains that happen, especially for very young and even very young, talented players."

Boone has a point. Surely it's been a challenge for García to get a taste of what he's been working toward his entire life before getting sent back down indefinitely, trying to evolve as a pitcher while working through a frustrating stretch on the mound.

Now, imagine doing that as a 22-year-old with astronomical expectations while playing for the game's most storied franchise. 

Those aren't excuses, but it's how García responds to this adversity—something Boone assured that every player goes through at one point or another—that will define his career.

"Hopefully he continues to learn from it and ultimately becomes better for going through these kind of struggles that are inevitable for all of us that play this game long enough," Boone explained. "It's going to get you. How you process it, how you deal with it, how you grow from it, how you adjust from it a lot of times defines what kind of player you're ultimately going to be."

García still has a nasty curveball, he still has the ability to baffle big-league hitters with his pitch mix and deceptive delivery. If he can make some mechanical adjustments, we may begin to see the García that pitched beyond his years in 2020. 

It's a matter of finding that consistency, a problem he'll need to solve in Triple-A before he can expect to secure a role in the rotation or in the bullpen at the big-league level. 

Then again, who knows. With how surprising this year's regression has been, maybe this time next year, García will be in the midst of another reversal, shining bright on the biggest stage.  

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