Atomic RoadRunners | Andrew Flynn’s High-Energy Fantasy Baseball

Jaime Garcia has long-term potential as a starting pitcher, but the Cardinals threw him to the wolves in relief this season. He played in two games in July, pitching seven innings and giving up six hits and three earned runs. He made one start, going five innings July 20 against San Diego but did not figure in the decision. Garcia is ranked as the top pitching prospect in the St. Louis organization and the lefty, a 22nd-round pick in 2005, was 7-6 with a 3.73 ERA in 18 starts between Double-A and Triple-A this season. He is unquestionably a solid long-term prospect. On September 5th, the Cardinals announced that rookie SP Jaime Garcia was scheduled for reconstructive elbow surgery on Monday. He will miss the entire 2009 season. Tommy John surgery usually requires at least a year of recovery, but the Cardinals plan to give Garcia plenty of time. He’s a decent prospect, but this surgery obviously takes him off the Fantasy radar for a while. (CBS Sports)

FAAB Acquisition:

• P James Parr, Braves [$0 bid, reserve]

Up:

• OF Chris Dickerson
• SS Ryan Theriot
• P Mike Gonzalez

Down:

• OF Corey Hart
• 2B Brandon Phillips
• P Brandon Lyon

Cut:

• P Jaime Garcia

Notes:

• MI Blake DeWitt moves from MI to 2B, and Theriot is activated at MI
• Stanimals acquired former Roadrunner C Carlos Ruiz in an attempt to bolster his lineup.  Stanimals and Goodfellas are tied for fourth place.

On Friday, the Cardinals announced that rookie SP Jaime Garcia is scheduled for reconstructive elbow surgery on Monday. He will miss the entire 2009 season. Tommy John surgery usually requires at least a year of recovery, but the Cardinals plan to give Garcia plenty of time. He’s a decent prospect, but this surgery obviously takes him off the Fantasy radar for a while. (CBS Sports)

According to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Jaime Garcia “is weighing ligament replacement surgery on his left elbow.” Garcia is said to be seeking a second opinion after one doctor advised surgery, which helps explain his allowing seven runs in nine innings with the Cardinals last month. He had elbow problems last season as well, but opted for rehab over surgery. Going under the knife now would likely knock him out for all of next season. (Rotoworld)

Cardinals optioned LHP Jaime Garcia to Triple-A Memphis. Garcia wasn’t a good bet at all to succeed as a reliever. He allowed seven runs in nine innings since being added to the St. Louis pen on Aug. 1. Garcia allowed three runs in one inning of relief Tuesday against the Brewers. The Cardinals want him to be a starter, so he’ll head back to the minors and join the rotation for the final part of the season. “He needs to go back and pitch some,” manager Tony La Russa said. “He’s a starting pitcher, he’s not really a left-handed reliever.” La Russa went on to say that Garcia may not return to the Cards this year, even when rosters expand next month. (Rotoworld, Rotowire)

If Chris Carpenter is unable to make his scheduled start Friday - and all indications are that he will not - either Jaime Garcia or Brad Thompson will get the spot start, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Neither pitcher has pitched since Sunday, so whoever doesn’t pitch in relief Wednesday or Thursday will be rested for a Friday start. (Rotowire)

Cardinals recalled LHP Jaime Garcia from Triple-A Memphis. Since the Cards couldn’t add to their pen yesterday, Garcia will be tried as a short reliever/lefty specialist. Left-handers were hitting .324 against him in the minors this year, so we doubt this will work out very well. Garcia has long-term potential as a starting pitcher, but the Cardinals are throwing him to the wolves in relief right now. Consider him is nothing more than a low-end middle reliever for the deepest of NL-only leagues that use true middle men at this point. (Rotoworld, CBS Sports)

FAAB Acquisition:

• P Joe Blanton, Phillies [$21 bid, Add to Actives]

Up:

• P Jason Bergmann
• P Jason Marquis
• OF Jody Gerut (to Utility)

Down:

• P Seth McClung
• P Jaime Garcia
• P Josh Johnson
• 3B Blake DeWitt

Cut:

• P Jared Burton

Notes:

• I didn’t expect to with the bidding for Blanton, and was presented with a “oh, great” reaction when I saw I had acquired him.

Cardinals optioned LHP Jaime Garcia to Triple-A Memphis. Garcia pitched two innings of scoreless relief for the Cards before allowing three runs in five innings in his lone start on Sunday. Garcia pitched well, but the Cardinals want to make sure they have plenty of fresh arms for their four-game series with the Brewers. (Rotoworld)

Jaime Garcia allowed three runs in five innings against the Padres on Sunday in his first career major league start. Garcia struck out four and walked one, but he also gave up home runs to Scott Hairston and pitcher Cha Seung Baek. Garcia has mid-rotation potential and could be of use in NL-only leagues in the second half, but he’s a risky option due to inconsistent command and he has a tough matchup against the Mets next time out. (Rotoworld)

FAAB Acquisition:

• P Jaime Garcia, Cardinals [$7 bid - add to actives]

Up:

• P Josh Johnson

Down:

• P Jason Bergmann
• P Jason Marquis

Cut:

• P Thomas Hanson

Notes:

• Due to the All-Star break, the FAAB acquisition run occured Monday night, while activations must be in by 6:35pm Thursday.
• Due to the short week, neither Bergmann or Marquis (above) will be starting in this Week 16.
• Shoeless Jews acquired former 2008 Roadrunner Emilio Bonifacio for $0 FAAB, and released P Taylor Tankersley.

Jaime Garcia will make his first major league start next Sunday against the Padres. “Garcia is here, so we should see what he can do,” said pitching coach Dave Duncan. “It’s a good spot to see how he handles himself.” He tossed two scoreless innings in relief on Friday night, but his fastball topped out at 90 mph and he couldn’t seem to locate his curveball. The 22-year-old was 7-6 with a 3.73 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A this season, while fanning 98 batters in 103 2/3 innings. He projects as a solid third starter, but it’d be ill-advised to expect big things this season.

Making his major league debut last week, Jaime Garcia pitched two scoreless innings of relief to help secure a victory over the Pirates. Garcia looked pretty fantastic. He allowed just one hit while striking out two and won a lot of individual battles after falling behind in the count. He’s definitely worth checking out in NL-only leagues if he joins the Cards’ rotation after the All-Star break. For now, he provides the Cardinals with some much-needed left handed relief. (Rotoworld)

Minor League Ball’s John Sickels had a glowing review, but questions the timing of the move for the Cardinals:

Jaime Garcia was drafted by the Cardinals in the 22nd round in 2005. He made his pro debut in the Midwest League in 2006 and was quite effective, entering 2007 as one of the better left-handed prospects in the game. But he was erratic last year for Double-A Springfield. He went 5-9, 3.75 with a 97/45 K/BB in 103 innings, with 93 hits allowed. Not bad at all for the Texas League, but not dominant. Of greater concern was inconsistent velocity: he was his usual 89-93 MPH self at times, but also had several starts where he was working in just the mid-to-upper 80s with less life in the ball. His command was also inconsistent, and the pieces of the mystery came together when he went on the DL last July with a sore elbow.

The pain was traced to a strained ligament, but surgery was avoided. He rehabbed, and looks like he’s come back healthy this spring. His stuff is back to 2006 standards, upper-80s to lower-90s fastball with a very strong curveball. He’s also continued to make progress with his changeup, and right now it looks like he got through the elbow problem without ill effect.

His performance has been solid this year. He began back at Springfield for a tuneup, going 3-2, 2.06 with a 41/16 K/BB in 35 innings. Promoted to Triple-A Memphis, he’s held his own in his first look at the PCL, going 4-4, 4.06 wtih a 56/21 K/BB in 64 innings, 64 hits allowed. He has a 1.98 GO/AO ratio in Triple-A and is keeping the ball in the park with just five gophers given up.

He’s doing well, but I would be leery about promoting him to the majors right now. His control is still a bit shaky at times, and he’s alternated some outstanding outings (June 26th, 10 Ks in 6.2 innings for example) with weaker ones (eight walks in ten innings combined on June 15th and 21st). He is showing a reverse platoon split, with lefty hitters tagging him at .333 but right-handed hitters just .230.

I like Garcia but he needs more consolidation time in Triple-A. If I were the Cardinals, I would consider him a possible September call-up, but would avoid promoting him to the majors in July or August unless it was a huge emergency and no one else was available. He is still refining his command and needs to get further down the road from the elbow trouble. I gave him a Grade B in the book this year, and right now I will keep that rating the same.