Jarlin Garcia

Garcia followed a strong 2019 campaign in Miami with an even better one for San Francisco, allowing only one earned run over 18.1 innings. He increasingly gained trust as the season wore on, collecting five of his six holds over his final 10 appearances. The southpaw doesn't strike out many batters -- he posted a 19.2 K% in 2020, just above his mark the previous season -- and his control is far from sterling (10.8 BB%), but he has found success by limiting good contact and therefore keeping the ball in the park, allowing only four long balls in 72 appearances over the past two campaigns. Miami DFA'd him following his solid 2019 season, but San Francisco avoided replicating that mistake by signing Garcia to a one-year contract in early December. His lack of punchouts will likely prevent Garcia from pushing for a closer role, but he should function as the Giants' best late-inning lefty option in 2021.

Garcia was one of the few bright spots in Miami's 105-loss season as he led the bullpen with a 3.02 ERA and ranked second with 53 appearances. The southpaw doesn't have an overpowering fastball -- it clocks in at 93-94 mph -- and he doesn't strike out many batters, registering a feeble 18.9 K% in 2019. Instead, much of Garcia's success came as a result of an increase in his slider usage from 22.4% in 2018 to 42.7% last season. It proved to be a wise adjustment as opposing batters hit only .195 against the pitch in 2019. Garcia does a good job of keeping the ball on the ground (46.9 GB%) and limiting hard contact (34.9 Hard%), leading to a 0.71 HR/9 that ranked 20th-best among qualified relievers. Garcia doesn't profile as a typical closer due to his subpar strikeout numbers, but it wouldn't be shocking to see him move into that role next season given his 2019 success and Miami's scarcity of options.

Garcia brings good heat, with his fastball averaging over 94 mph, but he doesn't have the strikeouts to match that velocity. The lefty posted K/9s of 7.0 and 6.8 on the farm in 2015 and 2016, respectively, and followed up with a 7.1 mark in his first exposure to big-league hitters. Unfortunately, there is not much in his profile that points to an uptick in future seasons -- while Garcia had a respectable 11.6 percent swinging-strike rate last year, his 55.6 percent first-pitch strike rate was well below average, and despite the velo his fastball had just a 7.0 percent whiff rate last year according to Brooks Baseball. He makes up for the lack of strikeouts to a large extent by limiting walks and hard contact. Garcia may not challenge for the closer role, but he should be a trusted part of the bridge to the ninth and that gives him a chance to exceed last year's total of 15 holds.

Fans hoping to get a glimpse of Garcia in the MLB will have to wait another year. Widely regarded as one of the Marlins' top prospects, the young southpaw was called up to the big leagues in May, but he never made an appearance on the mound. In a 2016 season shortened by a triceps injury suffered in late May, Garcia finished with a 3.73 ERA, though his ERA in Double-A ended at 4.54. Garcia has struggled to strike out hitters since signing with Miami as a 17-year-old in 2010. This past season was more of the same in that regard, as he struck out just 6.2 hitters per nine. In 2015, he posted a 6.40 K/9 rate in 97 High-A innings and a 8.70 K/9 rate in Double-A. Garcia pounds the zone, posting a strong 2.53 BB/9 walk rate in his 39.2 Double-A innings. Garcia should make his way to the big leagues again at some point in 2017.