The New York Yankees have announced a transaction, as the team has activated RHP Rico Garcia and demoted RHP Clayton Beeter to Triple-A.
Earlier this week, the Yankees claimed RHP Rico Garcia off of waivers from the Mets, a hard-throwing right-handed reliever with good fastball velocity.
Across 40.1 innings pitched with six different MLB teams, Garcia had a 6.47 ERA with 24 strikeouts, but in two appearances with the Mets, he was impressive.
The fastball has good vertical movement and he has two breaking balls with sharp dropping action, and he’ll replace Clayton Beeter who struggled with command in his first few outings of the season.
Rico Garcia Replaces Clayton Beeter in the Yankees’ Bullpen
Last season, Rico Garcia was with the Washington Nationals’ organization, displaying impressive swing-and-miss numbers that piqued the interest of the New York Mets.
In 24 appearances at Syracuse with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate, he posted a 4.45 ERA across 30.1 innings pitched, and the Mets brought him up as depth for their bullpen.
Garcia appeared in two games, tossing 4.1 innings pitched without allowing a run and striking out 20% of batters faced with no walks.
He possesses a strong fastball with excellent secondaries, and the Yankees could unlock more in his profile by increasing his breaking ball usage.
As for Clayton Beeter, his two disastrous outings on the season prompted a swift demotion to Scranton.
READ MORE: Should the Yankees go after this switch-hitting infielder at the deadline?
Clayton Beeter had issued four walks in 3.1 innings pitched with two home runs and one strikeout, and the Yankees need a bit more in the backend of the bullpen.
The Yankees’ bullpen has a 4.08 ERA and has been crushed by injuries, with Fernando Cruz and Mark Leiter Jr. both on the IL right now and Jake Cousins out for the season.
New York will desperately search for relievers at the trade deadline, but for now, they’ll have to hope that a flier in Rico Garcia can provide some value in relief.
!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“has-featured-video”,”true”)})}();