Phillies avoid arbitration with relief pitcher Luis Garcia
By John Town
The Phillies have avoided arbitration with relief pitcher Luis Garcia, agreeing to a $1.2 million contract for the 2018 season.
According to Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia, the Phillies and Luis Garcia have agreed to a $1.2 million contract for the 2018 season, avoiding arbitration. He is making slightly less than MLB Trade Rumors’ projection of $1.4 million.
Garcia, Maikel Franco and Cameron Rupp have now all avoided arbitration, signing one-year contracts for this upcoming season. The team still has to work out a deal with Cesar Hernandez.
Garcia has just over three seasons of service time in the majors spread out over five years in the majors. His first four years in the majors were uninspiring as Garcia had a 4.24 ERA and 1.688 WHIP in that span.
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Before the 2017 season, Garcia’s 40-man roster spot was in question with plenty of other prospects in need of a spot. However, he was able to keep it as he was the only extra reliever in Triple-A at the time on the roster.
Garcia wound up having a career year in 2017, posting a 2.65 ERA, 3.12 fielding-independent pitching, 1.220 WHIP, and 2.31 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 66 appearances.
He racked up 2.0 wins above replacement in 71.1 innings pitched. He saw an increased role in the second half, pitching in higher-leverage situations as Pete Mackanin gained more confidence in him.
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According to Fangraphs, Garcia was worth $9.6 million. If Garcia repeats that production this year, this contract will be a total steal for the club, as most arbitration contracts are.
Moving forward, Garcia and Philadelphia’s relievers should all see increased usage in 2018. New manager Gabe Kapler expressed a desire to have his relievers fill multiple roles: [quote via Todd Zolecki of MLB.com]
"“I am not married to any specific role because that isn’t mental toughness. If I can only do one thing, that’s not a very mentally tough way to start.”"
Next: Phillies converting Seranthony Dominguez to relief
Garcia could be one of the team’s setup men in 2018, but that doesn’t mean he will be limited to the seventh or eighth inning. If things start getting dangerous in the fourth or fifth innings, Kapler has stated that he will use his bullpen early and often. With how shaky the rotation was last year and probably will be this year, Kapler may have to employ his bullpen quite a lot.