He was a lefty pitcher with high ground ball rate and rare arm strength. However, his changeup was weak. Whether he would reach the Majors was very uncertain.
“He doesn’t have a plus-plus pitch like a lot of higher-leverage relievers do, but Garcia’s rare lefty arm strength and the extreme groundball nature of his output give him a forecast better than that of a generic middle reliever.” — Eric Longenhagen, June 2025
Nevertheless, in college he learned one mindset skill that helped him on his journey. No matter how bad an outing goes, he can reset his mind so he can focus on preparing for the next game.
“…if I have a really really bad outing I’ll stay in the locker room until I’m fully ready to wash it all off. Like I’m fully ready to move on and stop thinking about it. Then as soon as I’m done with that shower that’s it. No more thoughts about yesterday at all. It’s all about tomorrow and preparing for that.” — Brandyn Garcia, March 2025
In his case, his mindset was not enough for success. Instead, his success was due to a series of turning points, each key to fully using his unique skills.
Five Turning Points On His Path.
His path was not pitching, until it was.
In high school he played first base and in the outfield.
“Yeah, so in high school I considered myself a 2-way, so I hit a lot. I never really thought that pitching was my path.” — Brandyn Garcia, March 2025
He developed a unique pitch.
In college he developed a unique hybrid slider.
“…It wasn’t like the small little gyro like cutter, a slider a lot of people throw nowadays. It was more like a hybrid, I guess is what you would call it. It was a little bit bigger but not as big as a sweeper.” — Brandyn Garcia, March 2025
He turned his hybrid slider into 2 different pitches.
“Last year was year 1 with the sweeper.” — Brandyn Garcia, July 2025
“They were like, ‘We can actually turn this one pitch into two different pitches’. So, that’s when I shortened up on my slider and threw the harder one. And then that’s when the sweeper came into play. And that’s my biggest slider now.” — Brandyn Garcia, March 2025
His slider has two distinct shapes, one a firmer gyro spin slider and the other a devastating sweeper that gets nearly two feet of break. Both pitches pair well with his sinker…” — Max Ellington, SB Nation, Feb 2025
The bullpen was not his path, until it was.
“Converted fully to relief work this season, Garcia has seen his stuff improve alongside his results. He can work multi inning assignments, as a byproduct of his rotational past, and has eye-popping stuff that can at times look unhittable.” — John Trupin, SB Nation, July 2025
“It’s electric stuff, and it’s going to be exciting to have him out there.” — Dan Wilson, Mariners Manager, March 2025
“Baseball is a game of adjustments. And in the process of doing that, you learn a lot about yourself and what you need to do, and I think that helps you as a player overall…I think Brandon’s been relieving enough now that I’m sure he thinks more like a reliever than he used to.” — Dan Wilson, Mariners Manager, March 2025
“I think that it’s honestly getting out there more often helped me out a little bit more. [transitioning to the bullpen] I know they say with starting you get more reps and everything like that. But I feel like taking my mental side out of it and just going out there and competing every single day has helped me a lot.” — Brandyn Garcia, March 2025
He was traded to the Diamondbacks.
“[The best Diamondbacks trade at the deadline was] trading Naylor for Brandyn Garcia (a long reliever immediately) and Ashton Izzi (a likely starter in 2027). Although it’s possible that the return for Suarez was objectively higher, my delight at this unexpected return for Naylor gave it my highest rating.” — Makakilo, August 2025
Could the Diamondbacks have been in the playoffs the last three seasons (instead of only the 2023 season)? The following table (data from MLB com & Baseball Reference) shows how an average bullpen could make a positive impact:
If the Diamondbacks improve the bullpen to league average, I would expect an extra 3 wins. In the last two seasons, three wins would have made a positive difference in winning a Wild Card berth into the playoffs. Next season, Brandyn Garcia has potential to be above average and make a difference.
His FV 40+ makes his future value in the top-5 pitchers for the Diamondbacks. Other reasons he could improve the bullpen follow.
Because of his high ground ball rate, he could enter the game when runners are on base to get double plays and ground ball outs. “In fact, his ability to get a grounder likely ensures his future role will come as a mid-game fireman with runners on base.” — Eric Longenhagen, June 2025
“Garcia is a reliever who looks poised to step in for A.J. Puk as a hard-throwing lefty from the bullpen.” — James Attwood, July 2025
His OPS’s against LHB (.745) and RHB (.800) were each better than AJ Puk in 2025 (but not as good as AJ Puk in 2023 and 2024). Data from Baseball Reference.
Brandyn Garcia is a lefty relief pitcher with a high ground ball rate and rare arm strength.
Five Turning Points On his Path to Success in the Majors
In high school his path was not pitching, until it was.He developed a unique hybrid slider.He turned that hybrid slider into two excellent pitches.His path was not the bullpen, until it was.He was traded to the Diamondbacks.
He could make a positive impact on the Diamondbacks.
He could play in the fireman role with runners on base. He could play as a hard throwing lefty. In 2025, his OPS against LHBs and RHPs was better than AJ Puk’s.He could contribute to improving the Diamondback bullpen to average, which could secure a Wild Card berth.