TAMPA — Nearly a year to the day after Deivi Garcia’s 2021 season began to unravel, the young right-hander hoped to begin a bounce-back campaign in earnest.
Garcia started Wednesday night for the Yankees and tossed two scoreless innings in a 7-1 win over Baltimore at Steinbrenner Field.
And he featured a bit of a new look, as he’s reverted some of his mechanics back to where they were in 2020.
Garcia and pitching coach Matt Blake said the 22-year-old is using a more overhand delivery than he did a year ago, when the Yankees adjusted his arm slot — with disastrous results.
An up-and-down spring training ended with Garcia allowing four runs on seven hits — including a pair of homers — in just three innings last March 24. And in his final two Grapefruit League outings of 2021, the young right-hander walked six batters in six innings.
Briefly in the conversation to land a spot in the rotation to open the season, Garcia made just one start for the Yankees before he spent much of the rest of the year at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where his command issues continued.
Deivi Garcia Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post“I think I’m more back to being myself,’’ Garcia said this week through an interpreter. “I’m trying to get back to a natural set of movements and not overthinking my mechanics.”
He called his current delivery “very close” to his 2020 version, when Garcia impressed in six appearances with the Yankees after skyrocketing through the system in 2019, when he reached Triple-A and put himself on the Yankees’ radar.
Last year, believing Garcia was too “rotational” in his delivery — meaning he turned too much — the Yankees adjusted his pitching form and his control issues worsened. He walked 68 batters, had a WHIP of 1.875 and allowed 21 homers in just 90 ²/₃ innings with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and finished the season with a 7.25 ERA.
Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake is working with Deivi Garcia on his delivery. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Wednesday was a promising beginning, as Garcia allowed just one hit and no walks in his 27-pitch outing. His fastball was consistently in the mid-90s.
“He was attacking the zone and pitching with confidence,’’ catcher Kyle Higashioka said. “I think when he’s really good, he’s really pounding the zone. When he struggled, he lost the zone. That’s a point of emphasis for him this spring.”
Aaron Boone noted Garcia “had better carry in the strike zone. Last year, we saw him pull the fastball and missing wide off the plate.”
Prior to the game, Boone said: “He’s had some adversity and struggles thrown his way. That’s all part of it. I’m really encouraged by where he is today. … His fastball looks [like it’s] in such a better place.”
While the Yankees have some questions about their rotation — from how many innings Luis Severino can be expected to throw to whether Nestor Cortes Jr. can duplicate his success from a year ago — there’s currently no clear place for Garcia in The Bronx.
He expects that to change.
Deivi Garcia at Yankees spring training in Tampa on March 18, 2022. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post“I want to help the team and the only way to do that is to be in the rotation at some point,’’ Garcia said.
The struggles from a year ago, he believes, have made him stronger.
“I’ve said before, you can never have a bad game because you always learn, even if the result is not what you want,’’ said Garcia, who turns 23 in May. “I think I’m better suited to facing adversity and how to snap out of it quicker when it does happen. That’s something you have to figure out and I think I did that.”
“When you’re young, talented and have a lot of success, the game has a way of humbling you,’’ Boone said. “I think he’s grown from it.”
