Victor Garate

From BR Bullpen

Victor Jose Garate Blanco

  • Bats Left, Throws Left
  • Height 6' 1", Weight 160 lb.

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Biographical Information[edit]

Victor Garate pitched briefly in the majors. He has also played in Venezuela, Japan, Italy, Taiwan and Mexico.

Garate was signed by scouts Andres Reiner and Pablo Torrealba for the Houston Astros in 2001. He debuted in 2002 for Venoco, going 1-3 with 2 saves and a 1.98 ERA in 13 games. The southpaw was 3-1 with a 1.39 ERA in the Venezuelan Summer League in 2003 for the same team, allowing only a .163 average. He was 4th in the league in ERA. In 2004, Victor went 3-2 with a save and a 1.53 ERA for Venoco 1.

Coming stateside, Garate went 4-1 with a 5.57 ERA for the 2005 Greeneville Astros, allowing 21 hits in 32 1/3 innings but walking 26. He did strike out 53. In 2006, Garate was excellent for the Tri-City ValleyCats, going 4-0 with 8 saves and a 0.92 ERA in 21 games. He struck out 59 in 39 1/3 innings, walking 21 but allowing merely 14 hits - a .112 opponent average. The southpaw split 2007 between the Lexington Legends (3-1, Sv, 6.43, 35 BB, 47 H in 42 IP) and Tri-City (3-1, 2 Sv, 3.31, 45 K in 32 2/3 IP).

Garate was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in tthe AAA portion of the 2007 Rule V Draft. He split 2008 between the Great Lakes Loons (6-3, 1.85, 61 H, 28 BB, 103 K in 77 2/3 IP) and the Inland Empire 66ers (3-0, 4.70, 47 K in 38 1/3 IP). He was 5-0 with a 3.43 ERA for the Leones del Caracas in 2008-2009.

Assigned to the 2009 Chattanooga Lookouts, Victor went 0-1 with 4 saves and a 2.04 ERA in 47 games. He allowed only 36 hits in 53 innings while striking out 56. He was then named as the player to be named later in a deal to the Washington Nationals for Ronnie Belliard.

In his major league debut on September 5, 2009, Garate relieved Livan Hernandez in the top of the 6th with a 6-1 deficit against the Florida Marlins. He allowed a home run to Brett Hayes on the second pitch he threw in the majors. Chris Coghlan flew out, but Garate walked Cameron Maybin on 8 pitches. Hanley Ramirez popped up, then Jorge Cantu doubled in Maybin. Victor got John Baker to end the frame. He was then replaced by Jorge Sosa in the 7th, having given up 2 runs in one inning. He only pitched four times for the Nats, with no record and a 22.50 ERA, a result of giving up 5 runs in 2 innings.

Garate was 3-1 with a 4.86 ERA for Caracas in the winter of 2009-2010. He split 2010 between the Harrisburg Senators (0-1, 4 Sv, 0.87 ERA, 8 H in 20 2/3 IP) and Syracuse Chiefs (1-1, Sv, 4.91 in 23 G). He fanned 59 in 46 1/3 IP for the year. He had no record and a 2.66 ERA in 24 games for the 2010-2011 Leones. He signed with the Florida Marlins and spent 2010 in AAA with the New Orleans Zephyrs, going 3-3 with two saves and a 2.72 ERA. He struck out 59 in 56 1/3 innings but walked 34. He tied Ramon Benjamin for 9th in the Marlins chain in games pitched (43). He also pitched briefly for the York Revolution (2 R, 1 ER in 1 2/3 IP).

The Maracay native had a 4.94 ERA in 14 games for Caracas in 2012-2013, used regularly as a starter. In 2013, he went to Mexico and was 9-4 with a 3.78 ERA for the Saraperos de Saltillo, whiffing 112 in 100 innings. He tied for 9th in the Mexican League in wins, was 2nd in strikeouts (12 behind Paul Oseguera) and missed the top 10 in ERA by .02. In the winter, he was 3-3 with a 4.72 ERA for Caracas.

Back with Saltillo the next summer, he started 3-4, 4.58 with 87 K in 78 2/3 IP then moved to Taiwan's EDA Rhinos, going 7-3 with a 2.51 ERA and winning a Player of the Month Award for August. Despite his late entry, he was 7th in the 2014 CPBL in Ks, between Nelson Figueroa and Chris Cody. Had he qualified, he would have been close to winning the title - .03 behind ERA leader Kai-Wen Cheng.

In 2015, he was sharp for the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan (3-1, 1.71 in 13 G, 3 St) but was let go. He returned to Taiwan, falling to 4-2, 4.64 for the Chinatrust Brothers. He lost the opener of the 2015 Taiwan Series to the Lamigo Monkeys but won game 4; Lamigo would take the last 3 for the title, though. That winter, he was 0-1 with one run in eight innings for Caracas. Returning to Mexico for 2016, he had a 2-3, 4.69 mark for Saltillo. In the winter, he was 0-1 with a 3.72 ERA in limited time for the Leones.

He wound down his career with the 2017-2018 Tigres de Aragua (1-0, 4 Sv, 3.31 in 21 G), the 2018 Rimini club in Italy (3 Sv, 4.05 in 12 G; tied for 2nd in saves behind Murilo Gouvea) and 2018-2019 Águilas del Zulia (5.79 in 15 G) then became a coach for Caracas. Through 2020, his 157 games pitched were 8th in Caracas history, between Diego Segui and Rolando Valles.

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Related Sites[edit]

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