Yimi García pitches a clean inning for the Dominican Republic in loss to Venezuela

The Toronto Blue Jays have numerous roster players and minor leaguers participating in the World Baseball Classic this year, including Otto Lopez, Dasan Brown, and Damiano Palmegiani who will be representing Canada today against Great Britain in Phoenix.

One of the top-ranked nations heading into the tournament was the Dominican Republic, which is bringing a star-studded lineup including Juan Soto, Rafael Devers, and Sandy Alcantara (amongst many others). Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was supposed to be on the roster to begin the tournament but withdrew after knee inflammation popped up during Spring Training. Should the DR advance, he can potentially rejoin the squad in one of the later stages.

Also on the Dominican roster is Jays’ reliever Yimi García, who joined Toronto before the 2022 season as a free agent. In his first campaign with the Blue Jays, García amassed a 3.10 ERA through 61 appearances with one save. The right-hander racked up an 8.6 K/9 with a 1.049 WHIP while also pitching to a 3.47 FIP, becoming one of the setup pitchers for the Jays bullpen ahead of closer Jordan Romano.

The Dominican Republic started their World Baseball Classic tournament against Venezuela last night in a stacked Pool D that also includes Puerto Rico, Israel, and Nicaragua.

DR’s starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara went 3.2 innings, allowing three runs and five hits with reliever Hector Neris finishing off the fourth inning. García was tasked with the fifth inning, set to face some of the top batters in the lineup including Luis Arraez (who led the AL in batting average), Salvador Perez, and Gleyber Torres.

The Blue Jays’ right-hander was hitting the upper 90s with his fastball and sinker and was able to get Arraez out on four pitches, all offspeed with the lefty-batter swinging overtop an 89 MPH changeup. Both Perez and Torres were able to put the ball in play but the catcher grounded out to third base while the Yankees infielder hit the ball hard (101.3 MPH exit velocity) in a full count straight to shortstop Jeremy Pena.

In total, García had 12 pitches in the inning (eight strikes) and sits under the 30-pitch threshold, so as per the World Baseball Classic pitching rules, he will only require one day of rest before being able to pitch again. The Dominican Republic did not play today but will face Nicaragua tomorrow, with Garcia being able to enter the game if necessary.