By Gary Brooks
SportsLine Baseball Editor

Mariners would be in trouble without Garcia

Honor Roll Rankings

SEATTLE -- Houston Astros general manager Gerry Hunsicker expressed some surprise back in April when he found out Freddy Garcia had been impressive enough in spring training to earn the No. 3 spot in the Seattle Mariners' pitching rotation.

Hunsicker knew Garcia had a good arm and decent stuff but figured he was at least some further Triple-A seasoning away from the big leagues. That's why he let Garcia go in the deal between the two teams that sent Randy Johnson to Houston for the final two months and the playoffs last season.

The Astros said pitcher Scott Elarton was untouchable, but Garcia they could see parting with.

Now, with Garcia leading all rookies with five wins and having been the Mariners' best pitcher in the first two months, Hunsicker may be wondering if renting Randy Johnson cost the Astros too much. Johnson was certainly outstanding for the Astros, going 10-1 in the regular season, but lost both postseason starts as Houston was eliminated by San Diego in the division series.

While Johnson was pitching in Houston, Garcia went to Seattle's Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma and worked on making his changeup a devastating one. Though it originally caused some arm trouble, Garcia tinkered with his delivery and at 5-1, now has three "out" pitches.

Mariners manager Lou Piniella loves Garcia's repertoire and ability.

"Freddy can pitch," said Piniella, who before spring training said Garcia didn't have much of a shot to make the team. "He's got a good fastball with some movement. The ball is somewhat heavy. He gets his curveball over and he gets a lot of called strikes off that pitch. And then he's got the good changeup which is the equalizer especially against left-handers."

Piniella has grown impatient with young pitchers who had good stuff before. Not with Garcia. Piniella likes his approach. He thinks Garcia knows what he's trying to accomplish whereas some young pitchers don't think about how they should pitch.

"He's aggressive, and he trusts his stuff," said Piniella, who added that he wished the rest of Seattle's large collection of rookie pitchers would follow Garcia's example. "He's a big, strong kid that doesn't panic out there. He just gets the ball and throws it. He drives the ball in there. When they talk about pounding the ball inside, he does it in the classic sense."

He is, by far, the most overpowering member of Seattle's rotation, though he could stand to improve his 34 to 19 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Garcia's fastball stays in the mid-90s, his curve is an old-fashioned shoulder-to-ankles knee buckler and his changeup ("the cambio") is nearly as effective as that of teammate Jamie Moyer, who has made a career out of the soft stuff.

While Moyer and Jeff Fassero have struggled and Butch Henry was lost for the season after starting 2-0, Garcia has become the most attractive arm in Seattle's rotation.

"Obviously he's been huge," catcher Dan Wilson said. "He's the type of guy who's exciting to watch pitch."

For all the success he's had, Garcia doesn't show any of the excitement that the fans have poured on him.

He's a 22-year-old Venezuelan who speaks English in pretty much only a baseball sense and is still figuring out what the big leagues are all about.

He doesn't have much concept of the Mariners' recent poor pitching history. Seattle has had constant trouble the past three seasons and while the rotation around him has been, for the most part, awful, Garcia hasn't fallen into the Kingdome's pitching jinx.

Garcia has been roughed up only once in nine starts and he's beaten the Yankees in New York. Piniella doesn't see any reason why his results should change. The way he sees it, Garcia has overpowering enough stuff that even when he goes through the league for a second time and there is a better scouting report out on him, he'll continue to be effective.

The Mariners only hope that Garcia's career doesn't follow that of Seattle's last rookie phenom on the mound. Dave Fleming went 17-10 in 1992 but faded into obscurity by late in 1995.

So far, Garcia has shown what should be long-lasting stuff and the potential to eventually be the ace of the staff.