How Cincinnati Reds catcher Aramis Garcia earned a role on the team's depth chart

At the end of spring training, when Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell told catcher Aramis Garcia that he was on track to make the Opening Day roster, there was a catch.

Bell said he told Garcia that he was on the team “as of now.” He also told Garcia that there was “no guarantee because anything can happen between now and then.” If the Reds added a catcher with a waiver claim or made a trade before the start of the season, Garcia would have lost his spot as the Reds’ backup catcher. 

It was another reminder that Garcia still had work to do to prove he could stick at the MLB level. After he was a highly regarded prospect in the San Francisco Giants organization, Garcia hit .218 between 2018 and 2021. He bounced between the majors and the minors as well as across four different MLB organizations, never playing more than 32 big league games in a single season.

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Garcia is getting his shot with the Reds this season. With starting catcher Tyler Stephenson in concussion protocol, Garcia finally has an extended opportunity to prove himself as a regular in an MLB lineup. He entered Saturday’s game with the highest batting average on the Reds at .286 and is making a positive impact  with the Reds pitching staff. 

“In the past, I put a lot of pressure on myself because I wanted to do so well,” Garcia said. “Coming into this year and having the relationships with the coaching staff here, I feel like I can just go out and play. I don’t have to try to do something extraordinary to make the team. I’m just trying to ride that wave, go out there and be free.”

Garcia, 29, hit his way onto the team during spring training. He entered the spring on a minor league deal, so he reported to Goodyear, Arizona, in mid-February for minor league spring training. Catcher Andrew Knapp, a five-year veteran, was behind the plate for most of the bullpens and games when the Reds had a top prospect or an MLB hopeful on the mound.

Garcia stayed patient and eventually made his case to be the Reds' backup. He worked on a mechanical adjustment as a hitter that gave him more space between his body and the ball. Garcia started seeing the ball better, and he said he began making better decisions on when to swing.

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After hitting just nine home runs in his 74-game big league career, Garcia hit five home runs in nine spring training games. Garcia signed with the Reds because he knew he’d find an environment that could help him get the most out of himself. 

“This is where I had wanted to be for a couple years, playing for this staff,” Garcia said. “Coming in, I didn’t know a lot of the guys. But knowing (manager) David Bell and (hitting coach) Alan Zinter from the Giants, I knew that if those guys are in the position that they are here, the guys in this clubhouse are going to be valuing the same things I do.”

While Garcia made significant strides as a hitter, he said he made the biggest growth with his ability to help develop young pitchers. Throughout spring training, Reds catching coach J.R. House and the rest of the staff stressed specific techniques that can help a catcher develop a strong relationship with the pitching staff.

When he was just playing catch with a pitcher, Garcia studied what each player was working on. When Garcia caught a bullpen, he reviewed it with the pitcher afterward. He made a point to learn each pitcher’s individual style and demeanor. 

Now on a Reds team with three rookie starters, Garcia is putting those skills to use.

“It’s a pretty young group, and coming in, I knew you just had to take care of those guys,” Garcia said. “We guide them through times like this. I feel like for the most part, we’ve been pitching really well. Taking care of this pitching core is my biggest point of pride.”

Garcia has the opportunity to show what he can do as a starter due to an unfortunate injury to Stephenson. But he’s hoping this experience helps him stick at the MLB level for the first time in his career. 

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“I put in a lot of hard work in the offseason making some adjustments I really needed to make,” Garcia said. “Now, the biggest thing is that I get to be out there playing and being free.”