Christian J. Garcia (born August 24,1985) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Garcia pitched for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball in 2012.
Garcia attended Gulliver Preparatory School in Coral Gables,Florida. He played for the school's baseball team as a catcher [1] and committed to attend the University of South Carolina on a baseball scholarship,intending to play for the South Carolina Gamecocks. [2] He was a switch-hitting catcher as well as pitcher. [3]
The New York Yankees drafted Garcia in the third round,with the 99th overall selection,of the 2004 Major League Baseball draft, [4] and he made his professional debut in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League (GCL) with the GCL Yankees. One of the top prospects in the GCL in 2004,Garcia was promoted to the Charleston RiverDogs of the Single–A South Atlantic League in 2005. [1] After returning to Charleston in 2006,the Yankees assigned him to the West Oahu CaneFires of the Arizona Fall League after the 2006 season. [5]
Garcia experienced a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow,which required Tommy John surgery in 2007. [4] [6] [7] After missing the entire 2007 season,Garcia pitched to a 4–4 win–loss record and a 4.33 earned run average (ERA) with 74 strikeouts in