Christian Garcia update
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Feb 24, 2010 
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First things first, feel free to call him Chris or Christian. He answers to both and doesn’t mind either, though he does introduce himself as Christian.
As for his elbow, Garcia said it tightened up the other day after he threw, not while he was throwing. To be on the safe side, the Yankees had him take yesterday off, and he played catch again this afternoon. Garcia plans to throw a bullpen tomorrow.
So far, this seems to be a minor scare for a pitcher who has gone through more than his share of injury problems.
“Everything feels great,” he said. “I just have to make sure it stays that way.”
Thanks for this update Mr. Jennings.
Chad,
Do you ave any insight into why Garcia has been injury prone?
Chad – What’s it like being the relative ‘new guy’ on the scene? Ever have problems with players talking to you since you’re new or anything like that?
Do the Yankees have more injuries to minor league pitchers than other teams? It seems that way.
Thanks, Chad. So to be clear, is he okay or still up in the air?
Also, what’s his history? Has he had surgery? What have been his problem areas injury-wise?
That’s good that it seems to be pretty minor. Hopefully all will go well for him tomorrow.
Virtually all young pitchers have get injured or shutdown on the way up. It’s part of the job.
lenNY’s Yankees
February 24th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Do the Yankees have more injuries to minor league pitchers than other teams? It seems that way.
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Do you have great insight into the farm systems of the other 29 teams?? The Yankee minor league pitchers are probably the only ones you ever hear about
rodg12
February 24th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
Good to hear GB7. Things are going well here. I’ve been able to check in on the more important things here without any problems so far. Getting dang sick of all the snow we have here (I live in IA). Had 5+ inches on the ground here for something like 80 days. Plus, I’m always antsy this time of year since this is close to when I’d head south for a week in college to play ball. Seeing all the Yankees news out of spring training helps though. Reminds me that the nice weather and green grass isn’t too far off…
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Iowa in the winter with the winds blowing in from the northern plains and the fringes of lake effects snow is fun for the kids and their sleds but it sucks shoveling out a path to the car. That, I don’t miss at all. I grew up in SW Michigan, about 10 miles from Notre Dame and South Bend, IN. That had to be the wettest, heaviest snow anywhere. If the boss complains about your important times on here, just get a note from Chad or Sam, explaining the necessity of you being here.
Erica, FYI I do follow a lot of other minor league pitchers.
If it was sore or tight only after the pitching, it shouldn’t have been scar tissue breaking loose. Hopefully, it’s only normal ST soreness and Garcia will be able to cut loose a little more from here on out.
chad-
if you do get a chance find out and can get some inkling, what is kevin long working on with cano?
i know he’s said he doesn’t want to take cano’s natural aggressiveness away.
i would think it has something to do with hitting balls that he can hit hard.
cano is so good he has to be careful what he swings at because he can put almost anything he can reach in play.
that’s of course not what he wants. even some strikes are in places that are hard to do much with so it’s not a matter of just swinging at strikes.
Cano does seem to have unusually long arms for his size, doesn’t he, Randy?
Ledger_Yankees Cashman: “They’ve been Yankees for life. That’s what we intend to see happen.” about 1 minute ago
Thanks for the update.
Christian Garcia is the most talented pitcher in the Yanks’ system. He’s also been the most injury prone. Elbow and shoulder, several surgeries. Not good.
When healthy, he has the best fastball–great life, great command, 93+–and the best curveball in the system. Also has an excellent off-speed pitch.
All Yankees’ fans should be wishing this kid good health. If he can stay healthy this year, and into the future, and fully regain what he’s shown in the past, he’s a #1 starter. The only reason you don’t see his name on “best prospect” lists is the injuries.
I think 2010 may be his last shot. If he breaks down again, he may be done. But if he stays healthy, the sky’s the limit.
Erin, thanks!
Betsy – Romine wasn’t built in a day
February 24th, 2010 at 3:50 pm
Erin, thanks!
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You’re welcome!
GB7 – Yeah, the snow removal this year has been a bear. My driveway is uphill from the street too, which complicates things (both in removal and getting my car in the garage). Luckily, I invested in a nice snow blower when I bought my house a couple years back, otherwise I don’t know what I would have done this winter. I’ll keep the note thing in mind if something should ever come up. Pretty good play…
gb7
i have always liked cano even when he was in his dow year.
i used to cringe when people talked of moving him
he’s a major talent, but he needs to refine the talent.
he can somehow get the bat on the ball on almost anything.
maybe it’s long arms or a really good eye or a combination, but it’s like he’s playing catch with the ball with the bat when he’s in a grove.
Long and Cano did not work together this winter, so I’m guessing that right now they’re just working on getting Cano loose and ready to go. I don’t think they’re at the point just yet that they’re focused on individual tweaks and changes.
GB, For Christmas I recieved the Frankenstien movie collection…..I couldn’t help but think of you & your private nurse Karloff !!!! She’s not in any of the movies, but I do get your drift…..Bolts and all….
rodg12
February 24th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
GB7 – Yeah, the snow removal this year has been a bear. My driveway is uphill from the street too, which complicates things (both in removal and getting my car in the garage). Luckily, I invested in a nice snow blower when I bought my house a couple years back, otherwise I don’t know what I would have done this winter. I’ll keep the note thing in mind if something should ever come up. Pretty good play…
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Did your father spend half of the time you were growing up telling you about how it was when he was a kid…about “snow was up to here (hand at chest level) and how he had to walk to school, up hill (both ways)? I heard about it a lot. My mistake was telling him that when he was a kid my size, all snow was up to here. Didn’t go over real well.
Tin Cup, The high road exit is approaching, I’m certain you’ll be exiting…..To all LoHuders, thank you for your wishes…..This was by far the swiftest year of my 58 years….I can still hit in the 70 cage though !!!! 60 from the left side…Maybe that’s not so good on second thought
Also, just saw the question about whether the Yankees have more minor league pitching injuries than other teams.
I don’t think they do. I covered the Phillies minor league system before the Yankees, and I don’t feel like there was a significant difference in the number of minor league pitching injuries. Pitchers get hurt a lot. That’s true for every organization.
randy l.
February 24th, 2010 at 3:56 pm
gb7
i have always liked cano even when he was in his dow year.
i used to cringe when people talked of moving him
he’s a major talent, but he needs to refine the talent.
he can somehow get the bat on the ball on almost anything.
maybe it’s long arms or a really good eye or a combination, but it’s like he’s playing catch with the ball with the bat when he’s in a grove.
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It’s like Clemente and Guerrero. Long arms, great eye sight and fast hands. If they can reach it, they can hit it. That’s their approach to hitting.
Pat M.
February 24th, 2010 at 3:57 pm
GB, For Christmas I recieved the Frankenstien movie collection…..I couldn’t help but think of you & your private nurse Karloff !!!! She’s not in any of the movies, but I do get your drift…..Bolts and all….
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That’s a great movie package to get, Pat. I love mine and the Bela Lugosi package. No matter how advanced they can get with special affects today, nothing beats the lighting, shadows and black & whites for those types of movies. Still waiting for a Lon Chaney, Jr. package of films.
I’ll never forgive you and Randy for stealing my sweetie from me. I miss her.
By the way…Happy Birthday, Bud. Best wishes for a long(er) life.
Christian Garcia has top of the rotation stuff. If he could just stay healthy, he would be a tremendous asset. But that is a big “if”.
Garcia is great when he pitches. However, the key word is when.
I’ve been as vocal a critic on Cano as anyone on this board in the past.
That said, he’s an amazing talent. His defense is vastly underrated. Based on last season, I think he was the best defensive 2b I saw.
That said, if you move him out of the bottom 1/3 of the order and he doesn’t hit the same.
Those of you thinking he’s a lock in the 5 hole are hoping what’s ailed him in the past is gone. Considering he hasn’t shown us he can handle that role yet I don’t think it’s a given that he can.
He hits differently with runners on. He hits differently when the pressure mounts.
The guy should definitely be one of the top 5 hitters in the order, but for some reason the team has even realized that he needs to hit lower in order to produce.
Does that mean he can’t change this? Absolutely not. Hopefully, this season he becomes a five hitter.
I’ve said it before that I see shades of David Ortiz (in his prime) in Cano as a hitter. If he swings at better pitches he will hit more home runs and drive in more runs.
Still, I’m quite content to let him hit 7th and do what he did last season if that’s what it takes for him to produce.
It just would be nice to see him embrace the more important role in this offense and become the dynamo he has the potential to be.
Maybe at 27 this is the year.
GreenBeret7
One story my dad did like to tell was how that the farm he grew up on as a boy still didn’t have indoor plumbing so he’d have to go out to the outhouse in the winter to do his business. Some awfully cold treks back and forth, he said.
February 24th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Did your father spend half of the time you were growing up telling you about how it was when he was a kid…about “snow was up to here (hand at chest level) and how he had to walk to school, up hill (both ways)? I heard about it a lot. My mistake was telling him that when he was a kid my size, all snow was up to here. Didn’t go over real well.
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LOL. Nope, never really heard anything like that from my Dad. Course, I’m a young guy (26) so my dad road the bus to school like I did. Now my Gramps, he had a couple stories like that.
GB, I think I’ll be getting the Bella ( Dracula ) package tonight…..I love all the old Universal Monster movies from those Saturday afternoon / evening movies….Chiller Theater, Zackery , Creature features…..The gothic lighting effects were outstanding……As for Nurse Karloff, she’s the new attraction at Universal Studio tour……I’m onboard with Cano as well, this is the season he goes from potential to legit star….He makes his bones in 2010…..
Pat M.,
Happy birthday!
CB, Thanks….Your skills in diplomacy and balance were in dire need last night / this morning….Things have settled down and I certainly don’t want to stir the pot, however thereis no middle group in some camps….Very confrontational at times….I’ll always be grateful for the way you open doors for me and many to view the other aspects to the machinary of the game…..A very delicate approach…..
I saw Lon Chaney Jr. walkin with the queen, doin the werewolves of London
“I’ll never forgive you and Randy for stealing my sweetie from me. I miss her.
By the way…Happy Birthday, Bud. Best wishes for a long(er) life.”
gb7-
im going to miss her too.
i gave her to pat m for his birthday present
Pat M.
February 24th, 2010 at 4:15 pm
GB, I think I’ll be getting the Bella ( Dracula ) package tonight…..I love all the old Universal Monster movies from those Saturday afternoon / evening movies….Chiller Theater, Zackery , Creature features…..The gothic lighting effects were outstanding……As for Nurse Karloff, she’s the new attraction at Universal Studio tour……I’m onboard with Cano as well, this is the season he goes from potential to legit star….He makes his bones in 2010…..
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Growing up, I was a serious “Shock Theatre” fan “Svengoolie” and Karloff’s “Thriller”. Every Friday and Saturday night was must see tv. Love the movies on Science Fiction Theatre 3000 except for the silly interruptions and critiquing during the movies.
I read the comparisons of Cano to Carew as a hitter, but, never saw it. Entirely different hitters. I always thought Clemente and Tony Oliva were better comparisons. I think this is his first big all-around season, too, and he’s had quite a good 5 years so far.
Pat M.,
Likewise. You have an impeccable eye for the game. I’ve always been struck by that. Your short posts say a great deal.
One of the great ironies of this “debate” is how disengaged it is from the way statistics are usually used in other fields.
In general, statisticians work closely with people who have deep content knowledge of a field. Statisticians are often the first to admit that they are methodologists who need to work closely with people who have domain or industry specific knowledge.
That’s the kind of collaborative work that’s not seen enough in baseball. It’s just done very differently – and too often antagonistically.
“Long and Cano did not work together this winter, so I’m guessing that right now they’re just working on getting Cano loose and ready to go”
chad-
plus it’s not like they are going to announce to the league when they do make a change.
last year, with arod the first time i noticed a new approach was when ground balls starting going up the middle with men in scoring position.
it’ll probably be the same with cano. we may see it before we here what he’s doing.
Happy B-Day Pat M. I have been working on my 59th year for a few months now. I hit(using the term loosely)off a 70MPH machine the other day. Not awful, but my 21 year baseball playing son laughed much more then oohed or ahhed.
rodg12
February 24th, 2010 at 4:14 pm
GreenBeret7
February 24th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Did your father spend half of the time you were growing up telling you about how it was when he was a kid…about “snow was up to here (hand at chest level) and how he had to walk to school, up hill (both ways)? I heard about it a lot. My mistake was telling him that when he was a kid my size, all snow was up to here. Didn’t go over real well.
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LOL. Nope, never really heard anything like that from my Dad. Course, I’m a young guy (26) so my dad road the bus to school like I did. Now my Gramps, he had a couple stories like that. One story my dad did like to tell was how that the farm he grew up on as a boy still didn’t have indoor plumbing so he’d have to go out to the outhouse in the winter to do his business. Some awfully cold treks back and forth, he said.
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WOW!!! I thought that no father ever missed on laying those guilt trips on their kids. I tried it on mine, but, snow stories sort of lose their affect when you live in Austin, Texas or Savannah, Georgia. Yeah, I remember those outside smoke houses. Trust me, they still use them in the military in Iraq and Afghanistan and the winters make those trips rather rough, too.
I really can’t wait to see Alex hit this year. If he continues with the adjustments in his approach and mechanics he made last August he is going to have a monster season.
The end of last year was the best we’ve seen him hit since he joined the team. He was a better, more balanced hitter than he was even when he had that enormous year in 2007.
Everything was going back up the middle. He had no holes in his swing as he closed that weakness he had over the inner half.
There was literally no place to pitch him. It was beautiful to watch.
KenDavidoff My guess (credit if right, no blame if wrong): Jeter and #Yankees will agree on new pact precisely 15 days after the ’10 World Series ends. 5 minutes ago
randy l.
February 24th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
“I’ll never forgive you and Randy for stealing my sweetie from me. I miss her.
By the way…Happy Birthday, Bud. Best wishes for a long(er) life.”
gb7-
im going to miss her too.
i gave her to pat m for his birthday present
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That’s really a swell thing to do, Randy. You’re so misunderstood. I compare that to giving away your best dog to a good friend.
(Well, almost). Down here, no redneck is giving away his best dog. They’d rather be seen driving an Escalada than a pick-up truck than give away their dog.
I still can’t get over Alex hitting that HR in his first pitch back. Amazing what a year does – this time last year, his future was uncertain and ST was chaotic. Now, no one cares about that dumb book, he’s rehabbed his image to a remarkable degree and he had a ridiculously clutch post-season. Is that what it must have been like watching Mantle hit?
GB7–We didn’t have a snow blower out, but we did have more than an inch of snow yesterday. It’s been a crazy winter. It’s back to 55 and sunny today.
“One of the great ironies of this “debate” is how disengaged it is from the way statistics are usually used in other fields.”
Actually, I haven’t found that to be the case. I’ve seen people argue statistics can correct assumptions people have about the game, but I’ve genuinely not seen anyone more statistics should REPLACE all other methods of evaluation.
I’d imagine every single person pegged as being “stat obsessed” over the last two week would gladly acknowledge it is just one TOOL of many, and that used properly, should be complimentary, not mutually exclusive.
Betsy – Romine wasn’t built in a day
February 24th, 2010 at 4:45 pm
I still can’t get over Alex hitting that HR in his first pitch back.
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Betsy, I don’t think I’ll ever forget that. That was a total storybook moment. lol I felt like a little kid-I was actually jumping up and down after he hit it. And it was so cute to see Cano and Melky jumping all over him when he got back in the dugout.
Erin
February 24th, 2010 at 4:44 pm
KenDavidoff My guess (credit if right, no blame if wrong): Jeter and #Yankees will agree on new pact precisely 15 days after the ‘10 World Series ends. 5 minutes ago
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I really hope that proves to be the case. My stomach can’t handle an ugly Jeter negotiation
Arod was very Pujols-esque at the end of last year the way he was covering the plate and swinging only at pitches he could drive. Hope to see more of that in 10.
New Post: Granderson preparing for roll call
Erin
February 24th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
Betsy – Romine wasn’t built in a day
February 24th, 2010 at 4:45 pm
I still can’t get over Alex hitting that HR in his first pitch back.
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Betsy, I don’t think I’ll ever forget that. That was a total storybook moment. lol I felt like a little kid-I was actually jumping up and down after he hit it. And it was so cute to see Cano and Melky jumping all over him when he got back in the dugout.
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I was in my car driving on a parkway. I don’t know how I managed to control the vehicle. LOL
austinmac
February 24th, 2010 at 4:45 pm
GB7–We didn’t have a snow blower out, but we did have more than an inch of snow yesterday. It’s been a crazy winter. It’s back to 55 and sunny today.
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LMAO. Do you even own a snow shovel? I can imagine walking into Ace Hardware in Austin and asking for a snow shovel. The guy is more likely to call the cops and tell them that they have an escaped lunativ in the store.
“In general, statisticians work closely with people who have deep content knowledge of a field. Statisticians are often the first to admit that they are methodologists who need to work closely with people who have domain or industry specific knowledge.”
cb-
i think that about sums it up.
I was a little bummed going in to that last game against Tampa thinking that ARod was going to lose that 30HR/100RBI streak.
What an inning!
Really, it was such a great year for him. Just helping the team win games…it’s the best thing a player can do.
Just to be clear on the whole sabremetrics thing, I’m a big, big proponent of using both eye-based scouting and stat-based scouting to evaluate players…
Bronx, Going into that last game I needed Alex to hit 3 dingers and tack on 7 rbi’s to win my long shot wagers…..He pulled it off
” The guy should definitely be one of the top 5 hitters in the order, but for some reason the team has even realized that he needs to hit lower in order to produce.
Does that mean he can’t change this? Absolutely not. Hopefully, this season he becomes a five hitter.”
g. love-
hopefully long can tweak cano just enough so cano can do this.
they may at some point just have to put him in the 5 hole and let him learn how to deal with the added pressure.
at some point the training wheels have to come off.
cano is too good not to figure it out.
GB7–I have never owned a snow shovel. We rely on the sun around here.
Comprehensive NY SPorts info:
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