LATEST PG SHOWCASE REPORT
2004 World Showcase
We hardly recognized Garcia when he arrived at Terry Park in Fort Myers. His former lanky 6-4 frame had matured with about 20 pounds of good muscle both in his shoulders and in his hips and thighs. Physically, Garcia would look like he belonged if he walked into a big league club house right now. The raw tools would fit, too. Garcia uncorked an unreal 88 mph throw from behind the plate and recorded pop times of 1.75 and 1.78 in the skills workout. Garcia hit the ball well in BP and showed that his increased strength has added to his bat speed, but he still has a fairly long, grooved swing that will need some adjusting at the pro level. The other option, of course, is on the mound. Garcia threw an inning at the World Showcase and was 89-91 mph with a 73-76 mph curveball and surprisingly advanced 81 mph change up. With some experience and polish on his mechanics, it would be surprising if Garcia didn’t add 3-5 mph to his pitches pretty quickly. Garcia is a good student who has signed to attend South Carolina. He's one of trhe top defensive catchers in the country, he has big power potential with the bat and he might be drafted early as a pitcher. Christian has created a lot of interest and it's all deserved.