Aaron Boone and the New York Yankees are putting a ton of faith in 21-year-old pitching phenom Deivi Garcia down the stretch.
Apparently Aaron Boone and the New York Yankees think they’ve found a recipe for success in their youngest starting pitcher. They mixed a dash of Pedro Martinez’s stuff with a drop of the ice water from Mariano Rivera’s veins and got one Deivi Garcia.
Garcia hasn’t even thrown 20 MLB innings yet. However, after an off day Monday, the Bombers picked him to start the first of three critical games against the Toronto Blue Jays.
A good showing against the Jays would put the Yankees in second place in the American League Eastern Division. This season’s unconventional rules have created automatic postseason sports for the top two teams in each division.
Boone explained why believes Garcia is up to the task of getting his team a W in the first game.
“The one thing about him, he is so unaffected by being up here in a totally good way,” Boone said in an interview Monday, per the New York Post’s George A. King III. “I don’t think there is any situation you can put him in, any kind of big game or pressure moment that will affect him one way or another.”
Indeed, the 21-year-old rookie has showed incredible poise in his first three MLB starts. In 17.2 innings so far, he’s fanned 18 and posted a 3.06 REA and 0.90 WHIP.
Boone is so impressed that he even hinted at putting Garcia in his theoretical playoff rotation:
If Garcia can help lead the Yankees into the postseason—maybe even through to their long-awaited 28th World Series win—he’ll set himself up for a ridiculous amount of pressure in 2021.
Based on what he’s shown so far, though, it won’t phase him at all.
