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Have We Been Too Hard on Atlanta Braves’ 3B Garcia?

By Alan Carpenter

Aug 23, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Atlanta Braves third baseman Adonis Garcia (24) bobbles an infield single off the bat of Chicago Cubs second baseman Starlin Castro (not pictured) during the seventh inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 23, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Atlanta Braves third baseman Adonis Garcia (24) bobbles an infield single off the bat of Chicago Cubs second baseman Starlin Castro (not pictured) during the seventh inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 26, 2015; Miami, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves third baseman Adonis Garcia (24) is late on tagging out Miami Marlins third baseman Miguel Rojas (19) at third base during the eighth inning at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 26, 2015; Miami, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves third baseman Adonis Garcia (24) is late on tagging out Miami Marlins third baseman Miguel Rojas (19) at third base during the eighth inning at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /

Could Adonis Garcia Actually Be a Reasonable Choice for 3B?

Spring is what it is – a chance for pitchers and catchers to get ramped back up, to find their timing, and get everything stretched back out.  Nobody gets named to an All-Star team from their work in March; nobody hangs pennants or banners either.

So it’s with all that said that I have to wonder if Adonis Garcia isn’t starting to find an identity at the Hot Corner.

Sure:  I’ve said it:  “The fielding may be hard to take“.  “Garcia [ranked] the worst [in 2015 fielding]“.  And indeed, it’s hard to sugar-coat those errors.  But let’s try.

A Bit of History

Going back and reviewing Garcia’s minor league career, we see a lot of outfield work for the nearly-31-year-old native of Ciego de Avila, Cuba.  Going further back, he was actually a second baseman for most of his Cuban League play (2005-2008).  After finding his way to the United States, the Yankees tried him at every outfield position in 2012.  In 2013, it was the same.

So where did this notion of playing third base come from?

In 2009, Garcia had perhaps his best Cuban League season:  playing for Ciego de Avila, he hit 21 home runs, 4 triples, 18 doubles, a .334 average and 1.022 OPS.  He also played third base for the first time… with 14 recorded errors in 670 innings (84 games) as a 24-year-old.

But he didn’t play the position again until 2013 – for a few games in a Venezuelan league, then briefly again for the Yankees at the AAA level in 2014 (157 innings, 4 errors).

It wasn’t until 2015 when the Braves got hold of Garcia that he was ramped up at the position:  561 innings (8 errors) at Gwinnett.  Then suddenly he became a major leaguer and logged another 345 innings with 10 errors – but 3 of those came in just one game.

Okay, sure:  a fielding percentage below .950 isn’t very good… and he’s never actually hit that mark while playing third base – at any level in any league on the planet.

At the same time, let’s do a little bit of comparison shopping here:  there were seven seasons in which some guy named Chipper Jones came in with a third base fielding percentage between .930 and .950 (and for the record, eight more between .952 and .980).

But this is a guy in Garcia who is really still learning to be a left-side infielder.  At no time in his playing days has anyone simply left him on the field in any position and said “you’re staying here.”  That kind of flexibility is a manager’s dream, but also makes it difficult on the player… not everybody can do that.

Next: Rising to the Competition

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