Robert Garcia’s return has given the Texas Rangers a badly needed lift in the middle of a push to stay in the playoff race.
On Saturday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Kumar Rocker ran into trouble in the fifth inning after walking the first two batters. Texas had just piled up six runs in the top half of the inning, and the lead suddenly looked vulnerable.
Garcia stepped in and shut the door. He got Ildemaro Vargas to fly out to left field, Ryan Waldschmidt to pop out to second base and Jordan Lawlar to strike out.
That escape helped the Rangers finish off a 6-2 win, and it gave Garcia his first victory of the season. More importantly for Texas, it capped a sharp week from a reliever who was activated at the start of the week after spending four months on the injured list.
“Garcia has been huge every time he's been out there umm since coming up the IL,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said to Rangers Sports Network after the game. “A really good job from our medical team to get him back and ready to go.”
Garcia’s road back started on April 23, when the Rangers put him on the 15-day injured list with left shoulder inflammation. The recovery stretched on for months, and there were stretches when the left-hander was completely shut down. At one point, it looked possible he could miss the entire season.
The rehab work finally gained momentum last month, and Garcia made it to a rehab assignment at Triple-A Round Rock last weekend. Texas initially planned for him to throw two or three games there, with a chance to pitch on consecutive days.
Instead, he logged only one inning because the big-league club needed bullpen help. The Rangers decided he was ready, and this week he’s backed that up.
Across three appearances this week, Garcia has worked three innings without allowing a hit, a run or a walk. He’s struck out four. The efficiency has been part of the story, too: he used 16 pitches Saturday against Arizona after needing just 15 pitches combined in his two outings against the Seattle Mariners earlier in the week.
Before the injury, Garcia had a 5.06 ERA in six April appearances and also blew a save. Since coming back, though, he’s looked like a stabilizing force for a Rangers bullpen that needed one.
Even if that hasn’t fully shown up in the win-loss column, Garcia has helped steady the relief corps as Texas heads into Sunday’s game against Arizona looking for a road split. He’s unlikely to be available Sunday, but the Rangers expect him to be ready when they open their homestand Tuesday against the Boston Red Sox.
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