Jim Schlossnagle excited by development of Brandyn Garcia

Texas A&M baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle has raved over the job his standout relief pitcher Brandyn Garcia has done all season since transferring into the program.

“Super confident. He has gone from a very unconfident guy, not sure he could compete at this level, never really had great numbers at Quinnipiac,” Schlossnagle said of Garcia prior to the Mississippi State series. “But he had great stuff. And for whatever reason, coach [Nate] Yeskie has done a good job with him. 

“He’s got a lights-out breaking ball. He’s got command of his fastball. Throwing into the bottom of the strike zone. He wants the ball all of the time. So between him and [Evan] Aschenbeck, that has been a real highlight.”

Garcia was brought into Thursday’s series opener to close out a 10-8 heartbreaking loss. He went on to pitch 2.1 innings where he gave up two hits, the game-tying run and three walks. Garcia only managed to record one strikeout before being relieved in the bottom of the ninth.

Before the weekend series, Schlossnagle revealed that the biggest aspect of Garcia’s game that stood out to him out of the transfer portal was his coachability. Labeling him as a strong-armed lefty with good off-speed pitches, the Aggies almost lost Garcia to the MLB Draft.

Once he earned Garcia’s commitment, Schlossnagle got to know Garcia as a person — someone with a really good heart that works hard, means well, and is determined to get better on the mound. It’s been an adjustment pitching in the SEC, but his head coach believes he has really grown into his role with Texas A&M.

Coming into the program, Garcia didn’t have any eye-popping stats during his time at Quinnipiac. Last season, he logged 12 starts but finished the year with a poor 4-7 record and a 7.15 ERA in 61.2 innings pitched. The year before, he led Quinnipiac with 42 strikeouts and 33.1 innings pitched including two complete games.

Since arriving in College Station, Garcia has made 21 appearances on the mound this year ahead of the season series finale — that ties Will Johnston (21) for the most appearances on the mound for the Aggies this season by a reliever. Before Thursday’s performance, Garcia (2-2) had a 3.77 ERA on 19 hits (13 earned runs) through 31 innings pitched. His 45 strikeouts are the most of any Texas A&M reliever aside from Johnston (49), who bests him in that category as well.