Player Profile: Reivaj Garcia

August 8, 2023 by Sam Weiderhaft

At just 16 years old, Reivaj Garcia took the field for the Arizona Complex League Cubs in 2018. He was the youngest player in all of Minor League Baseball at the time. He held a batting average over .300 in the 40 games he played.

Since then, his path has been up and down as he navigates through the organization.

Garcia was signed as an international free agent out of Mexico in 2017 before making his debut in June of 2018 as a young teenager. He collected 52 hits that year and proved to be extremely disciplined at the plate, striking out just 21 percent of the time.

The infielder made the jump to affiliated baseball to begin 2019 before struggling at the plate and was brought back to Arizona.

Following the lost season in 2020, he bounced around almost every affiliate in 2021 with significant time with Double-A Tennessee, a handful of games in High-A South Bend, even a stop with the Pelicans for nine road games early in the season. His stints with the full-season clubs were largely forgettable, his best batting average being .212 in nine games with Myrtle Beach. Back in the complex league, Garcia hit .314 through 11 games.

He would see time with the Pelicans again in 2022, playing just three games but helping the Birds clinch a first-half division title with a win in Kannapolis on the final day of the first half. He continued to hit the ball well in Arizona but played just 13 games the entire season.

The native of Sonora, Mexico finally got his shot at consistent playing time with the Pelicans to begin 2023. He hit .325 through 12 games in the first month of the season and earned daily at-bats in the Birds’ lineup.

Following the month of May that saw Garcia hit a slump, the now 21-year-old touched fire in June with a .366 average for the month and a .908 OPS. Garcia continued the heavy contact through July, and now in mid-August ranks among the top five in the Carolina League for batting average and hits.

Garcia could be considered as an old-school player. A contact-first approach that hits from both sides and finds ways to get on base. He does have two home runs hit this season, both on the road.

The Myrtle Beach coaching staff has been working with Garcia to improve his contact skills this season, which have translated to the results in the batter’s box.

“His exit velocity has gone up almost 10 miles per hour since we started the year,” said Pelicans’ hitting coach Roberto Vaz. That’s been accomplished through a series of drills and strength exercises that Garcia has been committed to this season.

His hot bat has led him to find many ways to enter the lineup by playing multiple different positions. In June, Garcia started seeing time at first base after primarily playing second and third. He had played just three games at first base previously in his professional career. He’s now played 24 games at first, the most of any position he’s seen time at this year and has committed just two errors at the corner infield spot.

“We’re moving him all over the infield,” said Pelicans’ manager Buddy Bailey. “He’s handled all of them well, he’s a defensive steady player.”

Bailey mentioned how it’ll be interesting to see how Garcia finishes the year in September with all the improvements he’s made since the season began in spring training. The consistent play and constant routine have led Garcia to rise the ranks as one of the best hitters in the league entering the final month of the year.