Of course, it is early, but Jaime Garcia’s 2010 start matches that of a couple of Hall of Famers, including one named “Lefty.”
In beginning the season with five outings of six or more innings while allowing two or fewer runs each time, St. Louis Cardinals left-hander Jaime Garcia has done something only three others in team history have accomplished.
The three who preceded Garcia are Dizzy Dean in 1937, Steve Carlton in 1969 (pictured) and Woody Williams in 2003. It is pretty good company to be among, as the former two hurlers are members of Baseball’s Hall of Fame.
While Dean and Williams were veterans when they built their season-opening streaks, “Lefty” was just 24 years old in 1969, though beginning his third full-season in the bigs. Also left-handed, Garcia is now 23, but is still officially a rookie despite having made his brief MLB debut in 2008.
Carlton went on to pitch for two more decades, enjoying his greatest success with the same Philadelphia Phillies Garcia tamed on Monday night.
Cardinals Starting Pitchers, Season-Starting Streak of 6+Innings Pitched and 2 Earned Runs or Less
| Jaime Garcia | Opp | Rslt | Inngs | Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | HBP | ERA | ||
| 1 | 4/10/2010 | @ | MIL | W,7-1 | GS-6 | W(1-0) | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1.50 |
| 2 | 4/17/2010 | NYM | L,1-2 | GS-7 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.69 | ||
| 3 | 4/23/2010 | @ | SFG | L,1-4 | GS-6 | L(1-1) | 6 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1.42 |
| 4 | 4/28/2010 | ATL | W,6-0 | GS-7 | W(2-1) | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1.04 | |
| 5 | 5/3/2010 | @ | PHI | W,6-3 | GS-6 | W(3-1) | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1.69 |
| Woody Williams | Opp | Rslt | Inngs | Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | HBP | ERA | ||
| 1 | 4/2/2003 | MIL | W,7-0 | GS-7 | W(1-0) | 6.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | |
| 2 | 4/12/2003 | @ | HOU | W,3-0 | GS-6 | W(2-0) | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 3 | 4/18/2003 | ARI | W,6-3 | GS-7 | W(3-0) | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | |
| 4 | 4/24/2003 | @ | ATL | L,3-4 | GS-7 | 6.1 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.69 | |
| 5 | 4/30/2003 | NYM | W,13-4 | GS-7 | W(4-0) | 7 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1.09 | |
| Steve Carlton | Opp | Rslt | Inngs | Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | HBP | ERA | ||
| 1 | 4/11/1969 | @ | NYM | W,6-5 | GS-8 | W(1-0) | 7 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2.57 |
| 2 | 4/16/1969 | CHC | L,0-1 | GS-8 | L(1-1) | 8 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1.80 | |
| 3 | 4/22/1969 | MON | L,0-2 | GS-7 | L(1-2) | 7 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.23 | |
| 4 | 4/28/1969 | @ | PIT | W,6-2 | CG | W(2-2) | 9 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1.16 |
| 5 | 5/3/1969 | PHI | L,1-4 | GS-7 | L(2-3) | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.18 | |
| Dizzy Dean | Opp | Rslt | Inngs | Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | HBP | ERA | ||
| 1 | 4/20/1937 | @ | CIN | W,2-0 | GS- | W(1-0) | 10 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 2 | 4/25/1937 | CHC | W,4-0 | GS- | W(2-0) | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | |
| 3 | 4/30/1937 | CIN | W,7-1 | GS- | W(3-0) | 9 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.32 | |
| 4 | 5/5/1937 | @ | BSN | W,13-1 | GS- | W(4-0) | 9 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0.24 |
| 5 | 5/9/1937 | @ | BRO | W,7-1 | GS- | W(5-0) | 9 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0.39 |
As always, thanks to researcher Tom Orf for the data.
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Barring injury, Garcia looks poised to have a super rookie season. Its not just a lucky streak, but looks sustainable. Garcia has quality pitches and throws low. Overcoming the adversity of a ligament injury has helped make him tough. Great job by Joe Almaraz to unearth Garcia down near the Rio Grande. Great job by Jeff Luhnow to recruit Almaraz and then draft Garcia. At some point, Garcia may earn comps to Fernando.
A listing of major league pitchers born in Mexico. http://www.baseball-reference.com/bio/Mexico_born.shtml#pitch
It includes Dennys Reyes, Juan Rincon, Jose Acevedo.
The Dodgers found both Valuenzuela and Ismael Valdes.
The Brewers have a good one in Gallardo, who played prep ball in Texas, though Gallardo was well known to scouts and went high in the US draft, unlike Jaime.
Teddy Higuera was a very successful ML pitcher born in Mexico. Another southpaw. A fairer comp for Garcia.
The Dodgers and Brewers piled innings on Valenzeula and Higuera. Teddy won 20 games his second year in the show, 18 the next year. But he shouldered a large number of innings and must have been worn down. Fernando had 6 straight seasons over 250 innings, by the time he was 26. Amazing.
The Cards and most ML teams nowadays do not place such a heavy load on starting pitchers, a good thing. Hard to imagine the Cards asking Garcia to throw much more than 190 during 2010.
His value as a property continues to rise. His slot between the two horses, who will require the pen less often isn’t by accident.
Few things turn my stomac quicker than remembering Carleton leaving, and thinking what could have been. One of the lowest points in the illustrious history of the Cards. IMO, it should never be mentioned.