Rafael García (minors07)

Rafael Ramón García
Middle named also listed as Roman

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 190 lb.

• Born October 24, 1979 in Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional D.R.

BR register page

Biographical Information

Rafael García has pitched in the Dominican Republic, USA, Mexico, Taiwan, Nicaragua, Italy (where he won an ERA title) and Panama. He was on the Dominican national team as well.

García was 3-4 with a 3.67 ERA for the 1997 DSL Royals. In 1999, he went 4-2 with a 4.61 ERA for the GCL Royals, fanning 44 in 41 innings. Returning to the same club the next year, he improved to 4-4, 3.25 and whiffed 55 in 44 1/3 innings. Moving up to the Spokane Indians in 2001, he fell to 2-5, 7.13 and tied for 9th in the Northwest League in losses. That ended his time in the Kansas City Royals chain. His next minor league appearance was with the 2004 Saraperos de Saltillo and he was 3-1 with a 4.08 ERA. He split 2005 between the Rieleros de Aguascalientes (8 R, 7 ER in 2 IP, 0-1), Langosteros de Cancun (0-3, 11.48 in 3 G) and Chinatrust Brothers (2-3, 2.86). He opened 2006 back with Chinatrust, but struggled at 0-2 with 13 runs (11 earned), 11 hits and 6 walks in 4 1/3 IP. He pitched for the Gigantes del Cibao in the 2006-2007 Dominican Winter League, with 3 2/3 shutout innings.

He pitched for Boer in Nicaragua in 2007-2008. With the 2008-2009 Azucareros del Este back in the Dominican, he was 3-2 with a 5.29 ERA.

Signing with Telemarket Rimini in Italy, he was absolutely lights-out in the 2009 Italian Baseball League at 10-1, 1.16, fanning 96 in 93 innings. He led in wins (one ahead of Tiago Da Silva, Hector Estrada and Jesus Matos), was second in ERA (.06 behind Da Silva), was second in IP (2 2/3 behind Matos) and was 4th in K (between Jeff Farnsworth and Juan Figueroa). He had a better ERA than the seven former major leaguers who played in the league that year. Da Silva beat him out for the All-Star pitcher nod.

He returned to Boer in Nicaragua in 2009-2010 then had a stint in Panama. He resurfaced again in 2013, back in Italy, but not nearly as well as the first time there (0-4, 4.70 for Grosseto). In his last Dominican Winter League stint, he allowed two walks and one run in 2/3 of an inning for the 2013-2014 Leones del Escogido, taking a loss.

Picked for the Dominican squad for the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games, he was 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA and 8 K in 8 IP. Most of that came in a brilliant outing in the Bronze Medal Game, when he beat the Puerto Rican national team. He was 8th in the event in strikeouts. Among pitchers to allow an earned run, only Norge Luis Ruiz had a lower ERA. He pitched in the Veracruz League in Mexico in 2014-2015 to end his career.