Five Phillies prospects who could break out in 2018
By John Town
Elniery Garcia
2017 was supposed to be the breakout for Elniery Garcia before an arm injury and PED suspension made him miss most of the season. When he came back to Reading, he had a 1.75 ERA in five starts, which looks good on the surface. However, his FIP was 4.55 and he walked more batters than he struck out (10 strikeouts compared to 17 walks in 25.2 innings).
The club sent him to the Arizona Fall League to try and make up for some of the time he missed. He made four starts, logging 14 innings. Garcia walked four batters, struck out 13, and allowed nine runs.
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Garcia was removed from the 40-man roster to protect other prospects this offseason and other lefties have moved ahead of him in the system. For Garcia to get his chance at the majors, he will need to get back to his late 2016 form. If he returns to that form, his breakout could come, just a year later than expected.