Rico Garcia is 32 years old, was a 30th-round draft choice of the Colorado Rockies in 2016 and a graduate of Hawaii Pacific University, a school that’s produced just two major leaguers, outfielder Benny Agbayani and Garcia.
Garcia has pitched for seven major league teams, and on Wednesday earned his first major league save in his 65th game. He’s yet to allow a run or a hit in 5 2/3 innings this season.
Before Wednesday’s game, Garcia talked about his success with the Orioles, his journey and his time with Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic.
This interview has been edited for brevity.
Question: You’ve earned your way into high-leverage spots with the Orioles. How does that feel?
Rico Garcia: “It’s definitely higher pressure in a sense, but to me, it doesn’t matter if it’s higher leverage or lower leverage. I try to keep the same mentality. It’s a good feeling when they trust me to be in those spots, and that adds confidence. It reflects how I approach the mound and how I attack my pitches.
“Them having confidence in me tells me that I need to go out there and throw my pitches even with more confidence.”
Q: Do you feel that this is your place?
Garcia: “I try never to get in that mindset. I’ve been through so much I never want to get comfortable and be okay with where I’m at. I just need to keep producing and just throwing pitches one day at a time, and I think everything else will follow after that.”
Q: How did it make you feel when the Orioles signed you to a major league contract last fall?
Garcia: “It shows that they have confidence in what they saw last year. I’ve been through so much that I don’t like to take things for granted. Regardless of whatever the case was, just being able to come out every single day, treat it like it’s my last day ever and just have that mentality. It’s helped me approach the mound and how I attack hitters.”
Q: How important was the World Baseball Classic experience getting you into the high-leverage mindset?
Garcia: “It definitely helped because not only is it that playoff atmosphere, but the situation that I was first put into in the WBC was probably the highest of leverages that I could think of, bases loaded.
“Not the usual situations that I’m in, but it was bases loaded. I actually walked two hitters and I ended up giving up the lead. I think being able to go through that failure, that early in the year helped me shape how I should attack hitters in that situation.
“I remember the Boston series last year, but compared to the WBC game, I think the WBC game was magnitudes higher pressure than that game just because not only are you representing a team, but you’re representing a country and there’s so much riding on it.
“Being able to put that pressure on myself and go through it and not only fail, but being able to experience that situation, that circumstance fueled me. In the future when a situation like that occurs, I was able to go through it and now I’ll be able to navigate it in the future.”
Q: You mention that Boston game last August when you came in with he bases loaded and none out and struck out the side. Batters are only 1-for-15 against you with the bases loaded. Can you explain your success?
Garcia: “Honestly, I don’t know. I kind of like to just attack them. I feel like a lot of times in those situations, guys try to be too perfect, try to make the perfect pitch. Most of those times you end up getting behind in the count and then putting even more pressure on yourself because you’re behind in the count.
“You need to make a more perfect pitch. I just try to attack them and make them hit it and put the pressure on them.”
Q: Last year, you bounced from the Mets to the Yankees and back to the Mets, and then finally in early August, you ended up with the Orioles. What was that like?
Garcia: “I was in Syracuse maybe half the year, got called up by the Mets was with them maybe two weeks. Got [designated for assignment] a few days before the All-Star break. Went back home to Hawaii, found out I’d been claimed by the Yankees. Met them in Atlanta, pitched two innings, DFA’d after that and then went back to the Mets.
“They must want me, ended up getting DFA’d again and then got sent here. That’s the journey I’ve been on, not taking anything for granted and going through each day with a purpose, accepting that role of the journeyman. That made the process easier.”
Q: In 2020, you were with the San Francisco Giants when Craig Albernaz was the bullpen coach. What was he like then?
Garcia: “It wasn’t long, and it was during Covid. Our time in the bullpen was awesome. He was a chill guy. I think he’s like me, not very loud with words, but you can see the fire and the heart. You can tell when he wants something, he’ll stop at nothing to get it.”
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