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Sox re-ink starters Garcia, Mitchell to extensions rotation taking shape

January 27, 2012 - American Association (AA)
Amarillo ThunderHeads News Release


AMARILLO, TX -The Amarillo Sox Baseball Club announced today they have extended the contracts of RHP Justin Garcia and RHP Ryan Mitchell. Terms of either contract were not disclosed but include a one-year deal with a club option for 2013.

Garcia, a native of Las Vegas, Nevada, a 6'1", 195 lb. right-handed pitcher was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 25th round of the 2007 draft. Following a highly-successful 2007 campaign with Princeton of the Appalachian rookie league and Hudson Valley of the Low-A New York-Penn League, Garcia played with single-A Columbus in 2008, where he amassed a 2.49 ERA in 41 relief appearances. After two successful seasons with high-A Charlotte of the Florida State League, Garcia was promoted to double-AA Montgomery of the Southern League in 2010, where he went 3-3 with a 5.20 ERA in 18 appearances, including his first two career starts. Later in 2010, he appeared in two starts for Triple-A Durham of the International League before being released. Garcia compiled a 3.69 ERA in 121 appearances for his minor league career, including only 56 walks and 227 strikeouts in 227 career innings. Garcia was granted his outright release following the 2010 season.

Signed as an unrestricted free agent by the Amarillo Sox March 30, 2011, the former Western Nevada Wildcat made 20 starts posting a 9-5 record with 4.66 ERA striking out 118 batters while walking just 33, in 129.1 innings during his first season in Amarillo. His 5-year professional careers numbers include appearances in 142 games, with only 22 as a starter, posting an overall win-loss record 23-19 with a lifetime 4.04 ERA striking out an impressive 345 batters against only 89 base-on-balls, in 356.1 career innings pitched.

Mitchell, a 6'5", 235 lb. right-hand pitcher from Magnolia, Texas, was originally drafted by the Houston Astros in the 20th round of the 2005 MLB Amateur Draft at age 17. Mitchell spent two years in the Arizona rookie league with Greenville before being released. A veteran of independent baseball, he spent three years with Worcester in the Can-Am League before joining the Amarillo Dillas in 2010 where he went 5-3 with a 4.29 ERA in 17 appearances after a stint with Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier League.

In his first year as Sox, Mitchell appeared 22 games making 20 starts posting a 5-8 record with 105 strikeouts to along with a 4.63 ERA, in 142.0 innings pitched. A veteran of seven professional seasons the former Houston Astros farmhand has a career win-loss record of 23-23 in 94 appearances with a lifetime 4.63 ERA to go along with 350 strikeouts versus just 131 free passes during his 446.0 innings pitched.

With the re-signing of Garcia and Mitchell they now join recently acquired Trent Lare as members of the starting rotation inked to a new contract for the upcoming season. There were many factors that played into a disappointing 44-56 inaugural season, including injuries to many key players, but Sox manager John Harris will be the first to tell you that the one key element to being successful, at level of baseball, is a strong starting rotation.

"If you look back over baseball history there are many similarities that championships teams have in common but the most noticeable characteristic in parallel is for the most part they've all had very strong starting pitching". "Over the years the definition of a "quality start" has changed dramatically, even from my playing days, but what still holds true regardless of the current age of baseball, is that your one thru five guys have to perform consistently pitching into the sixth or seventh innings, even or with the lead, so that your bullpen can be most effective on the back-end", Harris said. "Putting a quality pitching staff together is like building a puzzle you don't quite know how the pieces will fit you just know that there and Justin, Ryan, and Trent are three important pieces to the puzzle we're trying to build in Amarillo", Harris added.

Join the Sox For "The March To A Million!" Season tickets are currently available for purchase in-person or over the phone by visiting the Amarillo Sox Executive Offices at 801 South Polk Street or by calling (806) 242-GOLD (4653). Game day tickets go on-sale May 1, 2012. VISA, MasterCard, and Discover accepted.

For more information about season and individual game tickets, game times, promotions, marketing opportunities, full game schedule, and everything else Sox Baseball, visit the "Official Website of the Amarillo Sox" by logging onto www.amarillosox.com.

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