IL St. Paul Saints

Pair of Promotions: Garcia Arrives and Schmidt Returns

Published on August 31, 2021 under International League (IL)
St. Paul Saints News Release


COLUMBUS, OH - The Minnesota Twins promoted catcher Kyle Schmidt from High-A Cedar Rapids and right-handed pitcher Jason Garcia from Double-A Wichita to St. Paul. Schmidt earns the Triple-A promotion for the second time this season, Garcia will be making his Triple-A debut with St. Paul.

Schmidt, a 23-year-old catcher, had a short stint with the Saints from June 24 to July 1, but never played in a Triple-A game before being transferred to Cedar Rapids. He is hitting .253 over the course of the season with one home run and 13 RBIs. Since being transferred to Cedar Rapids, he is batting .183 with one hit in his last nine games.

Schmidt started the season with the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels, hitting .302 through 25 games, collecting hits in five of his last seven games before his first promotion to St. Paul. Schmidt had drawn 17 walks while striking out 20 times in his 86 at-bats. He went on a career-high 10 game hit streak from May 8-26, hitting .415 in that span, driving in seven of his 12 RBI at that level. Defensively, he has thrown out five of 40 would-be base-stealers this season and allowed seven passed balls in 301.0 innings behind the plate.

The Austin, TX native opened his professional career in 2019 with the GCL Twins, hitting .167 in nine games with them, before being assigned to Elizabethton, where he hit .333 in five games in the Appalachian League. He finished the season playing his final 11 games of the season with Cedar Rapids, hitting .053 with a double. He threw out 12 of 38 attempted base-stealers.

A 33rd round selection in 2019, Schmidt played his collegiate baseball at the University of Richmond. He was named a Second Team All-Atlantic 10 Catcher in 2019, and was named to the 2018 Johnny Bench Award watch list, awarded to the top Division I catcher in the country.

Garcia, 28, joins the Saints having already made his MLB debut, but has yet to pitch in Triple-A. He's spent the last five seasons in Double-A between the Orioles, Rockies, Rays and now Twins organizations. He's pitched 12 games with the Wichita Wind Surge this season, starting five, and has a 1-2 record with a 5.08 ERA. In the month of August, he's pitched in five games, allowing just two earned runs in 6.1 innings.

A Bronx, NY native, Garcia dominated in the 2019 season with the Montgomery Biscuits (Double-A, Tampa Bay). He went 7-1 in 10 games (eight starts) with a 5.01 ERA. Having pitched in Double-A in every season since 2015, he has a 23-20 record at that level that has spanned 108 games.

His Big League debut came in 2015 with the Baltimore Orioles. Garcia pitched in 21 games with the O's, where he owns a 1-0 record and a 4.25 ERA in the Majors. His opponents hit just .223 against him, the second-lowest average he's had at any level in his career.

Garcia was originally drafted by the Red Sox out of Land O' Lakes High School in Land O'Lakes, Florida. He was then picked in the Rule 5 draft by the Houston Astros in 2014, but then flipped to Baltimore three days later in exchange for cash.

After three season with the Orioles organization, Garcia was signed as a Minor League free agent by the Colorado Rockies organization in March, 2018 and released two months later. That's when Garcia joined the Sioux City Explorers in the American Association, the same league as the Saints. He closed out the 2018 season with the Explorers going 3-0 with a 1.57 ERA in four games, three starts while tossing a complete game shutout. In 23.0 innings he struck out 22.

Garcia began the 2019 season with the Explorers and once again dominated the league going 8-1 with a 2.73 ERA in nine starts. In 56.0 innings he fanned 51 before having his contract purchased by the Tampa Bay Rays organization. Prior to leaving the American Association Garcia was first in the league in wins (8), third in strikeouts (51), fourth in ERA (2.73) & fifth in IP (56.0).

The Saints roster now consists of 31 players, 17 pitchers and 14 position players, with four players currently on the injured list and two Major League rehab assignments in Luke Farrell and Derek Law.

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International League Stories from August 31, 2021


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