Caught in the middle of trade whirlwinds, Jaime Garcia didn’t waver: He wants to be a Brave for life.
“If it was up to me,” he said, “I’d love to (stay) apart of the Braves and end my career here.”
The Braves added three veteran starters last winter in R.A. Dickey, Bartolo Colon and Garcia. The latter is the only one who has met, or perhaps exceeded, expectations.
A classic buy-low candidate, St. Louis traded Garcia to the Braves at a minuscule price (pitcher John Gant and minor leaguers Chris Ellis and Luke Dykstra). Garcia was coming off a 4.67 ERA season and, with a glut of starters and Garcia’s impending free agency, he was the odd man out.
He has made the most of his time with the Braves. The lowest profile of the acquired pitchers, Garcia has made the biggest impact. Despite a 2-5 record, Garcia holds down a 3.59 ERA, the lowest in the rotation, in 82 2/3 innings, second-most on the staff. He has also acted as a mentor to the inexperienced players. Rookie Sean Newcomb, specifically, has turned to Garcia, a fellow left-hander, since his call-up.
Perhaps most impressively, Garcia owns a 3.63 ERA at SunTrust Park, an apparent hitter’s oasis in its inaugural season. That’s the second lowest mark among qualifying Braves starters, having just been passed by Dickey after his seven shutout innings Monday night.
“My mentality is I try to adapt to anything,” Garcia said. “I really don’t pay attention to ballparks and obviously, you really have to like pitching here because that’s where you’re going to pitch the most. You can’t hide the fact that the ball kind of flies here. It’s just easier to hit home runs, like a lot of other places.
“But for me, it’s just one of those things where I try to adapt and get ready for whatever ballpark I’m in. Just go out there and do my thing.”
There’s a Catch-22 involved. The better Garcia pitches, the more appealing he becomes on the trade market. The Braves, as the Cardinals did, have an organizational pitching surplus. The veteran trio was brought in to cover innings while the youth simmers in the minors. If any of the elders succeed, Braves general manager John Coppolella could flip them by the trade deadline. And a lefty with a mid-3.00 ERA sounds mighty intriguing to contenders.
“I really don’t (think about a trade),” Garcia said. “I was traded to this team. I told my family and friends, teammates that I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity the Braves gave me. Believing in me, bringing me here. Right now, I’m an Atlanta Brave, and I’m grateful and thankful for that.
“I’m going to continue to do the best that I can with what’s in my control to help this team win as many games as I can and whenever that time, where something else is going to happen, whether it’s this offseason or whenever, then we’ll think about that. But right now my focus is the Atlanta Braves and doing my best for them.”
The 30-year-old Garcia’s face lit up at the thought of sticking around.
“I absolutely love it here, man,” said Garcia, who contract expires after the season. “And I love this place. I love my teammates. I love the coaching staff. I love the front office, how they’ve treated me, how they’ve welcomed me in. I believe a lot in what they’re doing and how they’ve been going about it. Anywhere from the training staff to the ballpark to the fans. How the city has welcomed me.
“I would love to call this place home for my future. But at the end of the day, that’s out of my control, you know.”
