Leury García

Leury Garcia

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 170 lb.

• Debut April 6, 2013

• Born March 18, 1991 in Santiago, Santiago D.R.

BR page

Biographical Information

Infielder Leury Garcia made his major league debut in 2013.

Garcia signed with the Texas Rangers in December 2007; the scout was Jesus Ovalle. Unlike many Dominican signees, he did not start in the Dominican Summer League. With the 2008 AZL Rangers, he hit .209/.279/.250 and stole 12 bases in 15 tries. In 2009, he batted .232/.286/.288 with 19 steals in 25 tries for the Hickory Crawdads. Baseball America named him the best defensive infielder in the South Atlantic League. The next year, he was back with Hickory, producing at a .262/.323/.307 clip and stealing 47 bases in 56 attempts despite missing over a month with a right shoulder strain; on a rehab assignment, he went 9 for 18 with two doubles, four walks and four steals for the AZL Rangers. He led the Rangers chain in stolen bases, one ahead of Esteban German. He was also 4th in the SAL in swipes behind Eury Pérez, Jeremy Hazelbaker and Jimmy Paredes.

The light-hitting infielder hit .256/.342/.306 for the 2011 Myrtle Beach Pelicans with 30 steals in 42 tries despikte missing a month with a hip strain. He tied Dale Mollenhauer for 6th in the Carolina League in swipes. Baseball America named him Texas's 11th-best prospect and as the fastest baserunner and #16 prospect in the Carolina League (between Boddy Bundy and Robbie Ross). He followed by hitting .361 for the Surprise Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League. In the summer of 2012, Garcia showed better contact and OBP skills, hitting .292/.398/.377 for the Frisco RoughRiders with 11 triples and 31 steals in 38 tries. He was among the Texas League leaders in triples (tied with Ryan Strausborger for second, 6 behind leader and teammate Engel Beltre), steals (5th, between Jean Segura and Strausborger) and sacrifice hits (9, tied for first with Rey Navarro). He was 4th in the Rangers chain in steals and tied for second in triples. He went 7 for 31 in the postseason, with a 10th-inning, walk-off homer off the Corpus Christi Hooks' Jason Stoffel. Baseball America named him the fastest baserunner and as having the best infield arm in the Rangers chain. He hit .285 for the Gigantes del Cibao in the Dominican League then improved to .354 in the playoffs.

Garcia was a late addition to the Dominican national team roster for the 2013 World Baseball Classic, the team's youngest player, born a year after next-youngest Eury Pérez. A few weeks later, he made his major league debut with the Rangers, as a pinch-hitter for Lance Berkman in the 8th inning of an 8-4 loss to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He struck out against Kevin Jepsen in his first at-bat. On August 11th, he was traded to the Chicago White Sox as the player to be named later to complete a trade made two days earlier which sent Alex Rios to the Rangers. He was hitting .192/.236/.231 in 25 games with Texas, then hit at a .204/.259/.224 clip in 20 games for the White Sox. He made the White Sox's roster as a utility player at the start of 2014. On April 16th, he was pressed into duty on the mound when his team was out of valid pitchers in the 14th inning of a game against the Boston Red Sox. They had already used 8 pitchers, and the last of these, Daniel Webb, had pitched three innings and thrown 60 pitches. With the score tied at 4-4, Garcia managed to retire the first two batters he faced, Grady Sizemore on a ground ball and A.J. Pierzynski on a fly out, but then got into trouble as he walked Daniel Nava and Jonathan Herrera; Jackie Bradley followed with a double to right, scoring both runners and he was saddled with the loss when his teammates failed to score in the bottom of the inning.

On April 14, 2017, he was part of a historic starting line-up for the White Sox against the Minnesota Twins, as all three outfielders were named Garcia. He was starting in center while namesakes Avisail Garcia and Willy Garcia, making his big league debut, were in right and left field respectively.

Sources

• 2013 Rangers Media Guide

Related Sites

• Leury Garcia on mlb.com