Warm-Up Song: Foorin – Paprika
Originally drafted by: Los Angeles Dodgers, 2012 (Round 3)NPB Debut on: April 4, 2018, Dragons vs. Giants (6 IP 2 H 5 BB 1 ER 7 K, W)
Signed with the Tigers in: December 2018Tigers Debut on: April 2, 2019, @ Giants (4 IP 7 H 1 BB 5 K 6 ER, L)
Released by Tigers on: December 2, 2020
Social Media: Twitter / Instagram
Career Stats:
| Yr | Team | ERA | GP | GS | CG | SO | No BB | GC | W | L | HLD | HP | SV | W% | IP | BF | H | HR | K | K/9 | BB | HBP | WP | BK | R | ER | AVG vs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Dragons | 2.99 | 27 | 26 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .591 | 168.2 | 711 | 144 | 13 | 132 | 7.04 | 73 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 60 | 56 | .234 |
| 2019 | Tigers | 4.69 | 21 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .429 | 103.2 | 473 | 123 | 8 | 79 | 6.86 | 40 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 66 | 54 | .295 |
| 2020 | Tigers | 4.42 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 | 75.1 | 326 | 71 | 9 | 51 | 6.09 | 35 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 39 | 37 | .254 |
| Career | 3.81 | 62 | 58 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 23 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .477 | 347.2 | 1510 | 338 | 30 | 262 | 6.78 | 148 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 165 | 147 | .258 |
Brief Biography
Onelki Garcia defected from Cuba in August 2010, and ultimately got chosen in the 2012 amateur draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He played some high-A ball that year, then bounced between AA and AAA in 2013, ultimately getting a September call-up to the big league team. He appeared in three games (1 ⅓ innings), allowing two runs on a hit and 4 walks. Shoulder surgery sidelined him for the entirety of the 2014 season, and that offseason he was picked up by the Chicago White Sox. He never got a call-up, and was released before the start of the 2016 season. After spending half a year playing in Mexico, Garcia got released, and subsequently signed with the Kansas City Royals that offseason. After a strong showing with the AAA Omaha Storm Chasers, Garcia got called up to the majors at the end of August. Unfortunately, he only lasted two weeks before being designated for assignment. That offseason, the Royals let him pursue an opportunity to play in Japan.
At the end of December 2017, Garcia reached an agreement to play with the Chunichi Dragons. He made his NPB debut on April 4, 2018, facing the Yomiuri Giants at Nagoya Dome. His six innings of two-hit ball earned him the win and set his freshman year off on the right foot. He piled up wins at a frantic pace in the season’s first half, earning an all-star game nod, and finished the year with 13 wins, including 2 complete game shutouts. Most of those wins (10) came in domed venues, which made the Dragons a seemingly perfect fit for him. However, he was unable to come to terms with the Dragons that offseason and instead signed a deal with the Hanshin Tigers in late December 2018.
The transition to Tigers pinstripes did not start particularly well. In fact, in each of his first three starts of the 2019 season, Garcia gave up 7 runs. He finally won his first game as a Tiger on May 26 against the Yokohama DeNA Baystars on the road. It was a complete-game shutout, and gave fans high hopes that he had turned the corner. Unfortunately, it took two trips to the farm during the season, plus a late-season call-up as a reliever, for Garcia to show enough to receive an offer for the 2020 season. In fact, he won three straight games for the Tigers at season’s end as they went on a late 8-1 run and clinched the third playoff spot in the Central League on the last day of the season.
Garcia started 2020 on the same rough note as he did 2019. This time, his season debut caused slightly less damage than in 2019, but the results were the same: a blowout loss to the Giants (4 IP 8 H 5 ER, team lost 7-1). Despite some strong outings in July (6 IP 1 H 0 R vs. Giants, 7 IP 6 H 1 R vs. Carp), Garcia did not record a win all month. He picked up his first W in August, once again in Yokohama against the Baystars (August 11 = 7 IP 4 H 1 R, team won 9-2). Throughout the rest of the season, Garcia alternated good starts with shaky ones, and ultimately found himself on the outside looking in, when it came to the import limitation rule. The team rolled with two fielders plus a combination of Joe Gunkel, Jon Edwards and Robert Suarez towards the end of the season. Garcia’s appeared in just one game between September 19 and the end of the year, throwing three innings against the Carp and surrendering 4 runs.
Ultimately, it was control issues that cost him dearly in many games, as his 35 walks in just over 75 innings of work were too many, especially as opponents also found ways to get hits, while Garcia struggled to miss bats with his arsenal.
On December 2, he was left off the team’s protected players’ list. On December 25, the CTBC Brothers of CPBL (Taiwan) reached a deal with Garcia for the 2021 season.
Related Articles:
“PJ” Johnson, “Satelite” Garcia Meet the Press (January 29, 2019)
Tigers Add Garcia, Marte to the Mix (December 29, 2018)