Jose Garcia (minors23)

José Gregorio García Santiago

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 170 lb.

• Born February 11, 1988 in Caracas, Distrito Capital Venezuela

BR Register page

Biographical Information

José García peaked at AA and was on the Venezuelan national team.

Signed originally by the St. Louis Cardinals, he hit .241/.313/.315 for the 2006 VSL Cardinals, fielding .973 at second base. In 2007, he played for the Johnson City Cardinals (.303/.410/.409 in 19 G), Batavia Muckdogs (.375/.423/.417 in 6 G) and Swing of the Quad Cities (.202/.269/.250 in 33 G). 2008 found him back with Batavia (.240/.311/.306 in 70 G, 26 for 29 in steals) and Quad Cities (.175/.261/.234 in 44 G). He was second in the New York-Penn League in steals, four behind Michael Ross, and led Cards farmhands (29, 5 ahead of Daryl Jones.

In 2009, he was with Quad Cities (.265/.335/.381 in 42 G) and the Palm Beach Cardinals (.258/.300/.320 in 74 G). The shortstop stole 27 bases in 39 tries; only Tyler Greene (31) stole more bases in the Cards farm system. That winter, he made his Venezuelan Winter League debut, batting .231/.310/.250 for the Tigres de Aragua. He again had a split summer in 2010, this time between Palm Beach (.252/.309/.301 in 49 G) and the Springfield Cardinals (.259/.315/.354 in 77 G). He went 25-for-31 in steal attempts, leading St. Louis minor leaguers for the second time (3 ahead of D'Marcus Ingram). In 2010-2011, he hit .227/.294/.254 for Aragua and was 0 for 2 with a run in the postseason.

García spent 2011 with Springfield (.318/.374/.412 in 94 G) and the Memphis Redbirds (.333/.400/.400 in 18 G). He stole 21 bases in 30 attempts, one steal behind Cards chain co-leaders Adron Chambers and Robelys Reyes. Had he qualified, he would have been 4th in the Texas League in average (between Alex Castellanos and Jimmy Van Ostrand). His batting line for the 2011-2012 Tigres was .342/.426/.366 in 47 plate appearances, backing up Luis Hernandez at both second and short. He was 0 for 1 with a walk and two runs in the playoffs. In 2012, he hit .261/.321/.336 in 74 games for Springfield and .255/.321/.353 in 16 games for Memphis. The utility man stole 11 bases in 13 tries.

In the winter, he played for Aragua (0 for 3, BB, R) and the Águilas del Zulia (1 for 10, RBI). He was 1 for 9 with a double, steal and RBI in the postseason. He moved on the indy leagues in 2013, appearing for the El Paso Diablos (.341/.388/.435 in 69 G) and Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks (.226/.294/.242 in 17 G). He tied Nick Van Stratten for 9th in the American Association with 25 stolen bases. In 2014, he played for the Gary SouthShore RailCats (.308/.400/.365 in 16 G) and Joliet Slammers (.206/.261/.256 in 47 G) in a significant drop-off from the prior campaign. He hit .203/.247/.275 for Novara in the 2016 Italian Baseball League while fielding only .859 at short.

The Caracas native was with his hometown Leones del Caracas in 2019-2020, batting .205/.300/.318 and going 0 for 1 in the playoffs. He backed up Leo Ferrini at 2B and Eduard Pinto in left. He hit .333/.389/.333 in 38 plate appearances over 38 games for Caracas the next winter. In the 2022 Bolivarian Games, he started in right field for Venezuela when they won the Bronze Medal. He batted .333/.455/1.056 with a double, four homers, five runs and seven RBI in six games while handling 11 putouts error-free. He went deep four times in Venezuela's last three games, off Samuel Burgos of the Dominican national team, Peru's Ken Ishihara and Colombia's Sergio Palacio and Jhon Peluffo. He was among the Games' leaders in runs (tied for 55h), hits (6, tied for 6th), homers (1st; Stanley Javier and Wildert Pujols tied for second at 2), RBI (tied Jonathan Lozada for second, two behind Pujols), total bases (tied Javier for first), walks (3, tied for 8th) and slugging (1st, .151 ahead of Javier). His home run prowess was surprising given that his career high for dingers was six during his pro career.