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Reds Promote Julian Garcia, Will he Carve out a Role?
Ken Rosenthal, senior writer at The Athletic, reported on Sunday that the Cincinnati Reds are calling up right-handed pitcher Julian Garcia, per a source. Garcia, 31, was a 10th-round pick in 2016. He will be making his major-league debut. At Triple-A this season, Garcia owns an impressive 3.03 ERA and 13.6 K/9 in 35 2/3 innings pitched with a 1.07 WHIP. Garcia has done most of his work out of the bullpen, as he's started two games and appeared in 21 games. Although the Reds' bullpen is nothing to write home about, Garcia is unlikely to be deployed immediately in high-leverage, late-inning situations, making him fantasy irrelevant in leagues that do not prioritize holds. Garcia has the elite stuff, evidenced by his 37.7 percent strikeout rate, 33.3 percent chase rate, and 37.7 percent whiff rate, and he certainly has the stuff to move into that role, but it's unlikely it comes right out of the gate. Fantasy managers in deeper leagues desperate for saves or good ratios will want to keep an eye on how he does in his first few outings and see how he's deployed before he should be picked up off the waiver wire.
Source: Ken Rosenthal
Source: Ken Rosenthal
