After appearing in just nine games throughout April, Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Yimi Garcia was lost for the remainder of the season due to injuries. Garcia was removed from his April 22 outing against the Colorado Rockies with right biceps soreness.
The injury lingered, Garcia was transferred to the 60-day DL on May 27, and didn’t resume throwing off a mound until early July. At that time, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts projected at the time that Garcia was roughly two weeks away from beginning a rehab assignment.
That did take place but in August the right-hander suffered a setback (knee injury) while on rehab with Double-A Tulsa. To that point Garcia had appeared in five rehab games — three with High-A Rancho Cucamonga and a pair with the Drillers.
Less than one week later, it was reported Garcia was unlikely to pitch again during the 2016 season. Seemingly out for the year because of the biceps injury, Garcia underwent surgery in September to remove a bone fragment in his left knee, cementing he would not return .
Garcia finished the season with a 3.24 ERA, 2.89 FIP and 1.20 WHIP in 8.1 innings pitched over nine games. He ranked second on the team in 2015 with 59 appearances and posted a 3.34 ERA over 56.2 innings pitched.
2016 Highlight
Garcia appeared in five games from April 10-20, throwing a combined five scoreless innings with just three hits allowed and two strikeouts.
2017 Outlook
Assuming Garcia manages to make a full recovery from the biceps injury and knee surgery, he figures to play a prominent role in the Dodgers bullpen next season.
