Baseball is nothing if not a funny game. At about the same time the Houston Astros were dispensing with their eventual ALCS opponents on the way to their first World Series victory, they signed a pitcher who may eventually help pave the way for future glory.

On July 2, 2017, the Astros were beating the New York Yankees 8-1 at Minute Maid Park. Shortly after Houston reliever Dayan Diaz was nailing down the last out in that day game, pitcher Luis Garcia was consummating a deal that made him a Houston Astro, as well.

Not To Be Confused With…

Luis Heibardo Garcia, the one whom the Astros signed for $20,000 out of his native Venezuela as a 20-year-old, is one of a handful of Luis Garcias currently strewn about MLB and affiliates. Two of the more notable are Luis Amado Garcia, 32-year-old Dominican reliever in the Los Angeles Angels’ bullpen, and New Yorker Luis Victoriano Garcia, a Double-A shortstop with the Washington Nationals.

Houston’s Luis Garcia, armed not with lawn equipment but a brutal pitching arsenal, is currently mowing them down at Advanced-A Fayetteville, home of the second-place Woodpeckers in the Carolina League’s Southern Division.

“Throws a Lot of Strikes”

A year ago, Baseball America offered up this thumbnail sketch of the Bolivar native:

“One of the sleepers of the class who is already moving quickly is [then] 21-year-old Venezuelan [right-hander] Luis Garcia. When the Astros scouted Garcia, he was throwing in the mid-80s; by the time he signed he was reaching the upper 80s.

“After that, his velocity jumped, and he performed well last year [2017] in the [Dominican Summer League] after signing, with a 1.64 ERA and an 18-4 K-BB mark in 11 innings [six games, one start].

“Given Garcia’s age (older than most conventional international signees) and what he had shown since signing, the Astros pushed him to low Class A Quad Cities, where he turned in an ERA of 2.48 in 69 innings, with 70 strikeouts and 33 walks in 2018 (19 games, 10 starts).

“Now 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, Garcia sits 90-93 mph and can reach 95 mph. He throws a lot of strikes and commands his fastball well, especially given his lack of professional experience. Garcia’s out pitch is a low-70s curveball, a swing-and-miss offering with big depth that flashes above-average. He hasn’t thrown his changeup much yet but he has shown some feel for that pitch as well.”

In the year since that report, Garcia has moved the needle just a tad, reflecting a current weight of 216 sturdy pounds on what now is a stocky 6’1″ frame. The extra strength has pushed his fastball to a top of 97.

MLB.com adds this assessment: “He has developed a changeup with intriguing fade that helps him keep left-handers at bay. After using a slow curveball as his main breaking ball in the past, he has added a harder slider that shows more promise.

“To remain a starter, Garcia will need to further refine his secondary pitches and improve his control and command. Some scouts think he’s destined for the bullpen because he has a short arm action and a lot going on in his delivery. In shorter stints, he might produce even more fastball velocity.”

Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 45 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 45 | Overall: 40

Sounding the “K” Alarm

Garcia began 2019 back at Quad Cities, where he turned in a tidy 2.93 ERA in 43 innings, featuring an eye-popping 60-16 K-BB rate. Such numbers earned him Midwest League Pitcher of the Week for the last week of May.

Garcia was promoted to Fayetteville June 6. For the month, he struck out 28 in 18.1 innings while bringing home a 0.98 ERA.

An uncharacteristic 6.75 ERA in 17.1 innings for the month of July gave way to a breakthrough August, where two consecutive six-inning outings brought forth a torrent of strikeouts. On August 7, Garcia whiffed 10, while walking three on two hits, while shutting out the Wilmington Blue Rocks (Kansas City Royals).

Hard as it may be to improve upon a 10-K performance, the Astros’ 29th-ranked prospect did just that, and set a new career-high and a franchise record in the process. On August 14, Garcia set down 13 Down East Wood Ducks (Texas Rangers) on three hits and one lone walk in six innings. He struck out the side on two separate occasions in the game.

Garcia has been stockpiling strikeouts all year and has now fanned 139 over 93.2 innings while yielding only 42 walks.

Related: Garcia’s Fellow Fayetteville Ace, Jojanse Torres, Another Fireballer Opening Eyes

Look for Garcia to open his 2020 at Houston’s AA Corpus Christi Hooks. Armed with mound ammo rarely seen, Luis Garcia, clearly, is an Astro prospect not to be slept on.