Pittsburgh Pirates Minors: Three Overlooked Prospects

Pitcher Nick Garcia

Nick Garcia was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 3rd round of the 2020 MLB Draft. Garcia, a 6’4″, 215 pound right-hander, was quite the pitcher for Chapman University’s Panthers. Through 83 innings, Garcia posted an outstanding 1.19 ERA, 1.11 FIP and 0.83 WHIP. Garcia struck out 35.6% of the batters he faced while walking just 6.3% of batters faced. Impressively, he allowed zero home runs.

Garcia filled multiple roles throughout college. In his 2019 season, he served as the Panthers’ closer saving 12 games. However, in this past season, all five of his games were starts. In both roles, he was extremely effective given his outstanding numbers.

Garcia uses three pitches, all of which have the chance to be above average. The first of which is his four-seam fastball which he usually throws in the 91-94 MPH range, but has been able to reach back and touch 97-98 MPH. He also uses a cutter which averaged out in the upper-80s and slider that sat in the mid-80s. Out of the three, his fastball has the best grade at 60 on MLB Pipeline while both his slider and cutter are seen as 50 grade pitches.

Not only does Garcia fly under the radar on the Pittsburgh Pirates’ radar list, but he also flew under the radar for the draft. He was taken with the 78th overall selection. However, MLB Pipeline ranked him as the 70th best prospect available. He’s extremely projectable which gives him a very high ceiling.