Cardinals Sign Free Agent Pitcher Luis Garcia

CARDINALS SIGN FREE AGENT PITCHER LUIS GARCÍA; OVIEDO OPTIONED TO MEMPHIS (AAA) & MARTÍNEZ MOVED TO 60-DAY I.L.

ST. LOUIS, MO., July 9, 2021 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that they have signed veteran right-handed pitcher Luis Garcia to a free-agent contract, and that he will join the team for its series-opening game this afternoon in Chicago.

To make room for García on the team’s 26-player active roster, right-handed pitcher Johan Oviedo was optioned to Memphis (AAA). Pitcher Carlos Martinez (right thumb sprain) has been transferred to the 60-day Injured List allowing for García’s addition to the team’s 40-player Major League roster.

García, 34, has spent eight seasons in the majors with Philadelphia (2013-18), Los Angeles Angels (2019) and Texas (2020). The 6-2, 240-pound García has appeared in 326 career games (all but four as a reliever) and has compiled a career mark of 14-17 with a 4.26 ERA in 315.0 innings pitched.

García worked in 60 or more games in three of five seasons from 2015-2019, including a career-high 72 in 2015 for the Phillies, and he logged 59 games in 2018.

The Santo Domingo, D.R. native was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an International free agent in 2004 just days before his 17^th birthday and he debuted in the States in 2007 with the Gulf Coast League Dodgers. García has appeared in 258 career games in the minors, most recently with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees.

In 18 games for the Scranton/Wilke-Barre RailRiders this season, García was 1-2 with a 3.63 ERA, striking out 19 in 17.1 innings of relief with just three walks allowed. García, who was released by the Yankees on July 6, made his last appearance for the RailRiders on June 26.

García joins recent additions to the Cardinals pitching staff over the past three weeks that have included Wade LeBlanc, Brandon Waddell and Justin Miller.

García has been assigned uniform no. 66.

— STL —