Garza's Debut

by KaoticKlown on Aug 11, 2006 9:23 PM EDT

To sum things up, he got rocked. His stuff was really impressive though. Hit 96 a few times, the curve was pretty deadly, but he left a lot of balls up, and the change was really flat, and didn't seem to fool anyone, he only threw about 4 or 5. Obviously, it doesn't really tarnish what a great year he had, but he was definately overmatched.

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Garza

He looked real good until he started falling behing the hitters. His slider looked excellent, at times. His fastball is impressive. He needs to get ahead of the hitters and not rely on his fastball as much as he did tonight.

At first glance he is no Liriano but then who is???

by scarfo on Aug 11, 2006 9:29 PM EDT reply actions

Billy Traber

Traber had a great day though. Not his season debut, but first appearance since being recalled. Allowed just 4 hits over 7 innings. Let's go Cordero ... close the door!

by StickRat on Aug 11, 2006 9:32 PM EDT reply actions

why the twins rushed him I just do not get

Anyone know of a guy who went through 4 levels and succeeded.

by novaoakland on Aug 11, 2006 9:40 PM EDT reply actions

Hmmm

Andruw Jones and Alex Rodriguez went 4 in a year, but kinda sucked. Jones at least played well in the playoffs

by irwin @ Minor League Ball on Aug 12, 2006 1:32 AM EDT up reply actions

Tom Gordon

jumped through four levels in one year.

by asinwreck on Aug 12, 2006 10:10 AM EDT up reply actions

Why is everyone so down on their boy garza...

I thought he was the next coming of clemens?? and for sure a better pitcher than harden?? This is why we let someone prove something before we go crazy saying how great he is and will be

by FishHead on Aug 14, 2006 10:29 AM EDT up reply actions

Let's face it...

He sucked!

by Oatmeal Cookie on Aug 11, 2006 10:20 PM EDT reply actions

that's

a bunch of shit. we know he got hit but he's got the goods. i think you could have added a little more than that. for christ's sake he's jumped 4 levels.

"Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical" - Yogi Berra

by the pinstripes on Aug 11, 2006 10:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Stuff

He has the stuff, but had a bad game. I think your right, he was shitting his pants up there to say the least. Give him 5 starts and see where he is at then before we start getting crazy. Even at that, he still has the ability.

by ChrisRef19 on Aug 11, 2006 11:14 PM EDT up reply actions

based on what people are saying

i'd compare this to philip hughes in the futures game - the stuff's obviously there, but he was excited by the situation and got his pitches up. i won't be surprised if jitters were a big factor and he settles down and is pretty good later on after he gets acclimated.

by wily mo on Aug 12, 2006 4:35 PM EDT up reply actions

Pennant Race

Give him 5 starts and see where he is at

Unfortunately the point of calling up Garza was that the Twins want to win now. There will be plenty of time to let Garza practice in Spetmember if they don't solve their rotation problems.

by TT @ Minor League Ball on Aug 12, 2006 8:21 PM EDT up reply actions

Easy

He said he suck*ed*, not he suck*s*. As good as he is or may become, that was a terrible performance, so he did suck last night. Garza would be the 1st to admit it.

by slurve on Aug 12, 2006 11:51 AM EDT up reply actions

furthermore

you could tell he was quaking in his shoes. the guy was nervous to say the least.

"Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical" - Yogi Berra

by the pinstripes on Aug 11, 2006 10:43 PM EDT up reply actions

I only saw the first inning

And he was definitely in charge.

He struck out the first guy on three pitches and, including two awkward swings and misses. Second hittter had an "excuse me" accidental contact that scwibbed to short for a weak single.

Then he easily Kd Wells, including an eyeball level fastball that just seemed to keep rising.

Glaus' walk should not have been a walk at all, as Garza clearly struck him out on a ball that the Ump missed.

Overbay's double was also a cheap shot off the end of his bat, that was only a double because Hunter dove for it and missed.

I can't imagine he had equally bad luck in the other two innings he gave up all the runs, but it's possible he just got flustered after having so much go wrong for him in the first inning.

by Galt on Aug 11, 2006 10:23 PM EDT reply actions

Yea

Maybe too much build-up and hype for him to endure.

Chalk it up to rookie'ness. Next time should determine whether he is ready or not, and hopefully this will not effect him mentally.

by Oatmeal Cookie on Aug 11, 2006 10:41 PM EDT up reply actions

re:

I'm not sure he was exactly in charge, but his stuff looked very good. But he was missing high and off the plate with most of his stuff. A lot of the first had to do with guys never seeing him before, as Reed defiantly showed. Wells helped him out by chasing 2 balls and getting down 0-2. Also to me the Glaus 3-2 pitch was outside IMO and Mauer trying to pull it back and frame it just made me more convinced.

He has the stuff to be a very good pitcher in the majors, it's his control that got him hurt mainly.

by hybrid on Aug 11, 2006 11:15 PM EDT up reply actions

Hunter mistake

I think that was the turning point, if he hadn't seen that it probably wouldn't have made him as nervous.

Go Jays!!!!

by achengy on Aug 11, 2006 11:02 PM EDT reply actions

Liriano and Verlander

Verlander had an ERA over 7 and Liriano had an ERA near 6 last season.
Very few pitchers dominate in the majors right away.

by Justin & Joe on Aug 12, 2006 1:12 AM EDT reply actions

Exactly

Getting hammered (by a good offensive team nonetheless) is nothing for a rookie pitcher to be ashamed of. Perhaps taking his lumps this year will be a good learning experience for him to be prepared next season. Of course, the Twins are in a playoff chase, so they may be unable to be too patient with Garza if he doesn't show improvement in his next couple of starts.

by mcq fesijiba on Aug 12, 2006 11:01 AM EDT up reply actions

Well

Then why were people proclaiming him better than hardon before 1 MAJOR LEAGUE START!

by FishHead on Aug 14, 2006 10:31 AM EDT up reply actions

Because

Some people are way overhyping him. He is not a better prospect than Harden was. Struggling at your first taste of major league action is no reason to quickly lower prospect status. He is still an excellent prospect. Expecting him to come out and pitch at a Cy Young level right away is simply unrealistic.

by mcq fesijiba on Aug 14, 2006 12:14 PM EDT up reply actions

Re: Well

Then why were people proclaiming him better than hardon before 1 MAJOR LEAGUE START!

Not everyone was. I particularily hate player comparisons as it's sensationalist and a situation of having facts dumbed-down. Just because Jay Rainville, for instance, has Roger Clemens-type body style and hopefull velocity doesn't justify all the parrots repeating the comparison. Just like I'm sure there's a number of guys out there shaped like Kirby Puckett, yet no one's projecting a bunch of squat .320 hitters (yeah, I realize he once was skinny).

Garza's raw. It's not established whether he's will be better than Hardon or not.

by steve johnson on Aug 15, 2006 10:51 AM EDT up reply actions

Deacon Burns

was compared to Kirby, until he hit high A ball. Body shape comparisons are pretty silly in baseball. But the real problem, I think, is that people give way too much weight to minor league results. The game really is different at the major league level. Sometimes those differences don't matter much, often they do.

by TT @ Minor League Ball on Aug 15, 2006 11:10 AM EDT up reply actions

Yep

It's only one start but he got hammered. I still think he is a great prospect but for this year, I'm not so sure.

by yoda1 on Aug 12, 2006 10:32 AM EDT reply actions

Clarify

Just to clarify, I didn't start this thread to say he sucks, or any such thing. Just to let you know how he fared in his first start. Also, to be fair of the first inning, Wells chased two high Ks, and that curveball looked about 5 inches too high to be a strike. After the first, he gave up 2 HRs, one of which to all field-no hit SS John McDonald.

Rios is the next Juan Gonzales, thats right, I said it.

by KaoticKlown on Aug 12, 2006 4:17 PM EDT reply actions

Memo to what have you done for me lately

Garza is an outstanding prospect. Remember in Verlander's cup of coffee last year he got absolutely rocked and now he's dealing this year. Liriano got blasted in his first game last year too. Let's not lay any judgement until Garza has a couple of games under his belt.

by slugggo on Aug 13, 2006 12:20 AM EDT reply actions

Unfortunately

Garza is not a uber prospect like Verlander or Liriano. He's a step down IMO but he should do fine.

by yoda1 on Aug 13, 2006 12:31 AM EDT up reply actions

Garza

For some of us, this is our first time seeing him pitch. Box scores and K ratios are all fine and well, but seeing a kid pitch gives you a whole new perspective. It's not unfair to grade him on how he looked out there, while realizing it's only one start of what will hopefully be a long, healthy major league career.

That said, I was not super impressed with his performance on Friday. His control (which we'd heard so much about) was off. Maybe it was nerves, maybe it was major league hitters laying off stuff that less-disciplined minor leaguers were swinging at, maybe it was something else. Who knows? But I for one will be looking very closely at his next start. I'm more impressed by a kid who can settle down and adjust to the hitters up in the bigs than I am to one who comes up and dazzles in his first start.

by Yakker on Aug 13, 2006 3:24 PM EDT reply actions

note

Garza is not Verlander or Harden.
He looks like an average MLB starter at best right now.

Nobody looks fooled or overpowered by any of his stuff.

His fastball isn't high 90's like some here have claimed, it sits between 92-95, occasionally hits 96 when he overthrows and doesn't seem to have much movement.

His breaking pitches have a lot of movement and that's where I'm guessing he got most of his K's against minor leaguers. In the majors it seems like guys sit on his 79/80 mph curve and tee off on it. If he can get that pitch lower in the zone, he should be fine.

He has some work to do before he can get major leaguers out enough to keep a sub 4 ERA. and I just don't see a frontline starter like some do. I see him being a good #3 pitcher in the majors.

Rays in '08....

by youALREADYknow on Aug 17, 2006 1:42 PM EDT reply actions