Yimi Garcia is a 34-year-old, right-handed reliever. The Jays signed him as a free agent before the 2022 season, to a two-year deal. Then, before last year, they signed him for another year. But then they traded him to the Mariners for Jacob Sharp and Jonatan Clase.
Clase played in seven games with the Jays, hitting .350/.435/.550. Last year, he was #12 on the Mariners MLB Pipeline. He is 22 now.
Sharp is a 23-year-old, right-handed hitting catcher who finished 2024 in Vancouver, hitting .226/.316/.381 in 25 games.
The Jays signed Yimi to a two-year, $15 million contract in December, bringing him back into the fold.
In his, not quite, three years with the Jays, he had a 3.44 ERA in 163 games. Last year, batters hit .167/.243/.348 against him. He was much better against RHB (.322 OPS) than LHB (.924), but that was in just 68 PA. His career numbers don’t have as big a split.
He throws a bunch of pitches:
- Four Steamer: 36.7%, 96.5 mph.
- Curve: 19.7%
- Sinker: 16.5%
- Sweeper: 13.1%
- Changeup: 9.5%
- Slider: 4.5%
Yimi is a one-inning reliever. He threw two innings once last year and got four or five outs five times.
He’ll slot back into a setup role again. He has 83 career holds and 26 saves.
Steamer figures he will pitch in 62 games, 62 innings, with a 3.48 ERA and 14 holds.