St. Louis starting pitcher Jaime Garcia is finding his groove. When the mid-week waiver wire occurs this week, it may be the last time he will be available this season.
Garcia’s beginning of the year began with injuries, leading to the Cardinals sitting him until late May. He’s only pitched in five games this year, and his record doesn’t have much to show for it at 2-3.
However, his record doesn’t tell the whole story.
In his five games, Garcia owns a 2.06 ERA with a 0.89 WHIP. He has 24 strikeouts on the season and he’s thrown at least six innings in all five of his starts. During his last outing at home against Kansas City, he went eight innings, allowing no earned runs on four hits with six strikeouts. All five of his walks this season occurred in his first start.
If his career numbers are any indication, he will provide an average amount of strikeouts, going for 7.1 strikeouts per nine innings in his career. His career ERA is 3.42, which doesn’t bode well for fantasy baseball owners, but now that he’s healthy (he’s pitched in only 21 games in the last three seasons), that number may stay down at its current rate.
Upcoming for Garcia is a start June 18 against Minnesota, giving fantasy baseball owners a back-end start to this week, with the addition of two starts coming after next week. Next week, Garcia is slated to square off against Miami.
It’s not about match-ups for Garcia. He should be owned in fantasy baseball leagues, based on his ability so far to keep a low ERA, limit walks and record some strikeouts.
