Luis Garcia continues to win praise at HOU

JUPITER, Fla. — Right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. isn’t expected to be ready for Opening Day because of a flexor injury. In his absence, the Astros are counting on right-hander Luis Garcia to continue to fill the void left by McCullers, as he did last year in the postseason.

Garcia, 25, made his spring debut Sunday at Roger Dean Stadium and had a solid start, pitching two scoreless innings and striking out three batters in Houston’s 4-3 victory over the Marlins. Garcia threw 35 pitches, of which 20 were for strikes.

The right-hander was able to make all of his pitches — fastball, slicer, slider and changeup — in the game. With his fastball, he reached a top speed of 94.6 miles per hour.

“I feel very good. I tried to throw strikes and it went well for me,” Garcia said. “I had no problems with my speed today. Everything was normal, so I’m fine.”

For his part, manager Dusty Baker was impressed with Garcia’s two-inning slider. Specifically, he was surprised by the command the right-hander had with said pitch.

Astros catcher Martin Maldonado predicts we’ll see more solid outings from Garcia, who needs to keep throwing strikes.

“He’s going to have a good year,” Maldonado said. “Work hard. Trust what you have. It’s a matter of… increasing your load. Once he gets to that point, he’s ready.”

Garcia showed his ability to grow against the Rays in Game 5 of the 2020 AL Championship Series, pitching two scoreless innings to help Houston win 4-3 and put the series on top. out of seven games at 3-2. The Astros were eliminated in Game 7.

“He showed what he was capable of doing for this team. After that day, he earned my respect,” Maldonado said.

Garcia raised his game even higher last year. When the Astros needed his rotation to come forward after McCullers’ injury, Garcia responded in the decisive ALCS Game 6 against the Red Sox. In that outing, he shut out Boston for 5 2/3 innings before Houston advanced to the World Series.

Baker was guided by people in the organization who advised him to use Garcia as a starter, and it worked.

“He wasn’t overwhelmed or intimidated by anybody or any situation, which is a huge thing for a young guy,” Baker said. “It helped us to have guys like McCullers on the roster. Garcia is special.”

In 2022, Garcia hopes to carry on the confidence he had in the postseason. His goal is to throw more innings than he did last year (155.1), the most he has pitched in his professional career. He is expected to be ready for the first week of the campaign, which begins on April 7.

“The confidence that I had last year – from the Boston game – I have that confidence right now,” Garcia said. “I think I’m going to be really good this year. It is what I want to do”.