Sunday, January 18, 2015

DrB's 2015 Giants Top 50 Prospects: #25 Aramis Garcia

Aramis Garcia, C.  DOB:  1/12/1993.  B-R, T-R.  6'2", 195 lbs.

2012 College, FIU:  .271/.335/.417, 6 HR, 19 BB, 43 K, 192 AB.
2013 College, FIU:  .321/.368/.522, 11 HR, 17 BB, 39 K, 224 AB.
2014 College, FIU:  .368/.434/.626, 8 HR, 25 BB, 23 K, 163 AB.

2014 Rookie AZL:  .219/.324/.313, 3 2B, 13.2 BB%, 15.8 K%, 38 PA.
2014 Short Season:  .229/.289/.357, 3 2B, 2 HR, 6.6 BB%, 25.0 K%, 76 PA.

Aramis Garcia was a hit-first college catcher whose stock rose rapidly in 2014 leading up to the draft.  He was the 3'rd rated catcher in the draft on most pre-draft rankings behind Kyle Schwarber and Max Pentecost.  Schwarber will likely not stay at catcher.  Garcia's stats speak for themselves.  He can hit and hit for power.  A few additional points:  1.  He missed part of the 2014 college season with an oblique strain.  2.  There was an interview in BA from early in the college season where Garcia said he had gained muscle in college and weighed 220 lbs, so I think his listed weight is low.  3.  Although he has a strong throwing arm and has a good CS rate, scouting concerns centered on footwork and his ability to get down and block balls in the dirt.  4.  There were also pre-draft concerns about his strength of competition at FIU.  He did not make much of  in impression in the Cape Cod League.

Garcia had a rough introduction to pro ball.  He was charged with 6 PB's and 2 Errors in just 8 games in Arizona.  He had just 1 PB but 3 Errors in 20 games with Salem-Keizer.  He did better at throwing out runners with a 9/34= 26 CS%.  Ordinarily, a second round college draft pick would start their first full season in High A ball.  I could see the Giants taking it more slowly with Garcia unless his D has made great strides in instructional league and continues in the spring.  He remains a high ceiling prospect with significant risk.

17 comments:

  1. Baggs mentioned that the Giants draft board got beat up pretty good in the 1st round. I bet they were heavy on Pentecost. They sure do love them catchers, that's for sure. I think Garcia was a pretty nice pick here, but I did like some of the pitchers picked right after him: Joe Gatto, Cody Reed, Scott Blewett. And Ti'Quan Forbes.

    Blanco is signed up for 2 years. You were right, they just combined the ask-offer of player-team and called it a day. Good signing, Blanco has been worth a lot the past 3, he should provide big value on this contract as well.

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    1. Maybe I like Beede better than most, but like I always say, if a player jumps up in the draft, it pushes another good player a little lower, so it all should work out in the end. To me, Beede has a super high ceiling with relatively low risk. Second round is a nice spot to take some risk on a high ceiling talent like Garcia. The pick I don't quite understand is Davis in Round 3. I haven't looked at who got picked after that, but I might have preferred a better all-around bat or a pitcher. Maybe the Giants think Davis will eventually be a pitcher and just wanted the arm?

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    2. I guess the only guy who jumps out at me after the Davis pick is HS SS Josh Morgan.

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    3. They can be patient with Garcia.Posey's never moving from behind the plate.Susac has the back up locked down.Our catcher's are dope.Big advantage over opponents.Susac's starts will increase a little every year.And, occasionally he can relieve Posey late depending on score.I wonder if they would move Garcia to 3B or 1B.And, they did draft Davis for his arm.We should see this year in SJ.They didn't draft him for his bat.

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    4. I like Beede to.In college the manager calls the game.Evans said they were surprised he was still there at #14.He has great stuff.Getting him settled in shouldn't be a problem.

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    5. I would be willing to bet a fair amount that we will not see Davis on the mound in SJ this year.

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    6. I don't see Davis hitting at all.How long go they let him hit .190.We'll see.

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    7. I'd be careful before you write a guy off so fast. Davis was a .326 hitter his sophomore year. 21 BB/31 K his junior year. What's wrong with that? If they were that interested in putting him on the mound, I would think they'd have tried him out last summer.

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    8. Exactly! The guy has not had even one full pro season yet and he did hit 4 dingers.

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  2. Ah, the catcher from last year's draft. He's on MLBs Top-20 list. Don't really have any opinion of him beyond he's got a contact-hitter swing and every time I see those guys swing from their wide, flat-footed stance I want the Giants hire Will Clark as a batting coach...

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    1. First of all, I looked at video of Garcia and saw no such thing. He actually has a pretty long stride from an upright stance in the batter's box. Secondly, Will Clark's swing does not work for everybody. The wide, flat-footed stance with minimal timing mechanism and minimal leg-kick/stride is being forced on hitters as a way of coping with the dramatic increase in pitch velocities.

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    2. Garcia looks pretty balanced at the plate and has a nice line drive stroke. To me it looks like he only has around a 6 inch stride length but most importantly there is not a ton of movement, especially in his head.

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    3. A 6 inch stride is pretty long by Joe Panik standards, but I agree, Garcia looks good at the plate.

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  3. Develop him as third baseman right away. Listen to the scouts. If he can hit, let's see him develop as a hitter with passable and improving D at 3B. If that doesn't work, 1B/OF could fly also. I imagine he's a good athlete.

    As for the Cubs, it will be interesting to see how long they keep Scwarber behind the dish.

    Baseball Ry

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    1. Uh, the scouts do think Garcia can stick at catcher. He does need to work on his footwork and pitch blocking, but that is something that can be developed.

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    2. We'll see. The day they drafted him I thought they were looking at the hitter and not the catcher and that's okay.

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    3. Garcia is a hit first catcher, but that does not mean he can't or won't stick at the position.

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