Last year, I spent the time immediately after the season examining each player that had made an appearance in St. Louis during the season. This series was well received and so I’m bringing this idea back for the 2013 offseason. More summaries than anything, I imagine the player coming into Mike Matheny‘s office and having a short conference before heading home for the winter. Stats are just the ones accumulated for the Cardinals during the regular season.
This year’s Exit Interview series is brought to you by Bonfyre. A large number of the United Cardinal Bloggers used Bonfyre all season long and found it a great way to interact and discuss things in a limited audience. No need to worry about some pseudo-fan crashing your Facebook conversation or trying to explain fine points in 140 characters on Twitter. Invite who you want to the group and get to talking. Share pictures as well–Bonfyre is a great way to document parties or other events, especially for folks that can’t be there. Sign up today and give it a try.
Name: Jaime Garcia
Season stats: 5-2, 3.58 ERA, 9 games, 55.1 IP, 57 H, 15 BB, 43 K, 1.30 WHIP
Hero/Goat: Hero 3, Goat 3
Overall grade: B
Positives: Garcia thought rest and rehab would work on that shoulder and it seemed like that was going to be a winning bet. In his first seven starts, he put up a 2.25 ERA and 31 strikeouts to just 13 walks. He even put up a couple of good road games, his legendary problem. The other positive? He went under the knife early for the injury and looked strong throwing batting practice at the end of the year, meaning he’s right on pace for a normal spring training.
Negatives: Rest and rehab never seem to work, do they? The last two starts before he was shut down were pretty horrific (1-1, 8.74 ERA) and he still had more success at home than on the road, even though the splits might have been closer than in years past.
Outlook: Adding a healthy Garcia into the rotation and not having to expect him to be outstanding just makes the 2014 Cardinals that much better. We give Garcia a lot of grief about the mental aspect of things (though perhaps not as much as we do Lance Lynn), but he really has some top-notch talent and will be a great addition to the staff next season.
