The NY Mets offseason move that’ll sneak into the end zone or get stuffed at the line

It’s going to go one of two ways with this New York Mets offseason addition because that’s just how things have gone for him in recent years. Devin Williams and Luke Weaver were the team’s significant relief additions. Luis Garcia was a much lesser recognized name even with his 13 years of MLB experience. Perhaps it’s his shared name with two other active players that makes it easy to overlook anything he ever does.

A longtime Philadelphia Phillies reliever who also had three separate tours with the Los Angeles Angels, he’s the kind of low-cost bullpen addition who’ll flourish or drown. The Mets are paying him $1.75 million with additional incentives for games pitched.

His track record tells us to make no claims as to what we believe he’ll do. He has spent time with three different teams over the past two seasons (Angels twice) and posted ERAs of 3.71, 8.22, 5.27, 0.00, and 2.00. You’d have a better chance of predicting the final score of the Super Bowl than how his year will go.

Luis Garcia is going to sneak into the end zone or get smashed for a loss

What might be most fascinating about the addition of Garcia is his ground ball reliance. A career percentage of 53.8% is more than 10 points higher than the league average over the course of his career.

The Mets couldn’t have given him a better pairing up the middle than Francisco Lindor and Marcus Semien. At the two corner spots, we hold our breath. Bo Bichette at third base and Jorge Polanco at first base remain complete unknowns. All four infielders will be busy whenever Garcia is on the mound. They can make or break his season.

It is important to look just beyond ERAs to understand any pitcher’s ability. Garcia is prone to giving up a lot of hits. He isn’t immune to walking batters either.

His 3.42 ERA last year feels pretty good. Unfortunately, hitters batted .271 against him with a .351 OBP. Limiting home runs to 0.9% or 0.3 per 9 innings is what saved him from being a larger disaster.

It’ll be rare we ever see Garcia get through an inning without a single or a walk across. It can work out well. His 14 double plays last year tied for 30th in baseball alongside Clay Holmes.

Garcia can get out of trouble. He can also get himself into it.