The Cincinnati Reds are calling up right-handed reliever Julian Garcia from Triple-A Louisville according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The corresponding roster move(s) have not been made public yet. Garcia will need a roster spot on both the 40-man roster and on the 26-man roster. One of those moves could be simple as there are only 39 players on the 40-man roster right now. To get a roster spot open in the bullpen could have multiple candidates to head out.
Let’s talk about Julian Garcia, though. He was drafted in the 10th round back in 2016 by the Philadelphia Phillies out of Metro State University. He remained in the Phillies organization through the midway point of the 2022 season when he was released on July 13th. At the time he had been in Double-A as a 27-year-old with an ERA of 8.86 in 21.1 innings where he had 16 walks and 23 strikeouts.
The next time he showed up was in 2024 when he was pitching with the Kansas City Monarchs in the American Association. He pitched well, throwing 92.0 innings with 22 walks and 115 strikeouts to go along with a 2.54 ERA. He then returned to the Monarchs for 2025 and had a 3.39 ERA in 111.2 innings with 32 walks and 163 strikeouts. That performance was enough to have Cincinnati sign him late in the minor league season and he then pitched in three games for Double-A Chattanooga before the season came to an end.
Julian Garcia moved up to Triple-A with the Reds when 2026 began. He’s pitched in 21 games for the Bats this year, recording one save to go with a 3.03 ERA. In his 35.2 innings he’s allowed 26 hits, walked 12 batters, and he’s struck out 54. He’s taken things to a different level so far in June, allowing one run in 12.1 innings on seven hits and two walks. He’s also struck out 17 of the 47 batters he’s faced during that stretch. The 31-year-old will be making his big league debut whenever he gets on the mound for the Reds.
You can see the career stats for Julian Garcia here.
Now let’s talk about what Garcia is bringing to the table. He’s a 2-pitch reliever, throwing a 4-seam fastball and a slider. It’s worth noting that the pitch identification currently says he’s throwing a fastball, cutter, and a slider. The latter two are the same pitch when you look at their movement, spin, etc.
Garcia pitches backwards. Like, really backwards. He throws his slider 71% of the time. Only one time this season has he thrown more fastballs than sliders and it’s also the only game in which it’s been close. No other game has seen him throw his fastball even 40% of the time.
The fastball does have some cutting action to it and it works in the 92-94 MPH range and he’s topped out at 95.9 MPH this year. His slider works in the 82-86 MPH range and has been up to 88.9 MPH in 2026. Hitters have a .177 average against his slider and aren’t hitting for any power on it. Against his fastball they are hitting .296 and are showing some power against it.
Garcia has struck out a lot of hitters this season. He’s not walking many guys, either. That’s the good side of things. The questionable side of things when it comes to how it will go against big league hitters is that he’s been a flyball pitcher this season and his HR/FB rate is 15.4%. The average rate in the big leagues this season is 11.5%. We’ll have to see how this goes at the next level once he starts pitching more regularly for Cincinnati.
I never heard of him but give him a chance.
Interesting move considering Johnson is close to being activated as well. So who goes down or who is injured?
I was hoping the Petty move to bullpen would be permanent rest of this season. Will be interesting to see what moves are indeed made.
Maxwell, Petty and Benson down with Garcia, Johnson and Elly joining the Reds is my guess. Garcia will have 3 options, so flexible to move between the Reds and Bats without having to go through the DFA scenario.
Petty has been pitching pretty well lately.
Yes he has and it would be a mistake to send him down.
This BP lacks power arms petty brings that..
I also feel as of now he has taken to this relief role . Man this organization cBr get out of there own way . Ugh
Amazing. Announcement hasn’t even been made of the corresponding move and already the organization is being criticized again based on a move that hasn’t yet been made.
Why are they keeping Benson he has no value can’t hit fielding is ok but they need someone to hit the dang ball
They leave too many on base you’re not going to win many ballgames if you can’t get that timely hit
They need to send Petty down to keep him stretched out. He might be needed as a starter as the last 3 months unwind. He twirled 118 innings last year and needs to bump up to about 140/150 this year. Arroyo needs to go down to keep developing unless they’re ready to hand the 2B keys over to him. I don’t think they are quite there yet. Maxwell needs to go down as he still walks too many. Man, it’s great to see Santillan perking again and if Garcia can keep close to same ratios going with Reds together with Johnson’s return….
I think this makes sense. Reds are likely to need another regular starter by the end of the year; either someone else hits the IL, Burns or Lowder (maybe both) hit their innings limit, or the team hits the skids and sends out a starter at the deadline. Keeping Petty stretched out keeps him ready to jump back up and earn a spot moving forward.
What is the status of the following players’ Hayes, Ashcraft, Pagon,?
Hayes in Arizona (per WLW 700 yesterday) to get his back straightened out. A long way away from coming back.
Ashcraft not throwing yet. Pagan probably weeks away.
Hi Oldtimer. Me again,Did you mean Hayes is getting his back straightened or bat straightened out. ?
“Did you mean Hayes is getting his back straightened or bat straightened out. ?”
Tito pretty much said several weeks ago back…. then bat. 🙂
Desperate times call for desperate measures. This qualifies. Not too many guys make a positive impact when they debut in their 30s.
I agree. Not too many. But Fernando Cruz (nee CIN now NYY) is one who did.
Same name I came up with. Maybe the Refs will get lucky. They’re due for a change of luck. So are we.
lol. Old timer I have no idea why a question mark showed up. It was actually a smile face
Hard to predict the down guys. Logically, I would guess Petty, Maxwell, and Arroyo. But there might be a setback, injury, or trade in the works. Really getting disappointed with this merry go around of bullpen help from Louisville. What are we on now? A 31 year old and about the 10th best pitcher from Louisville. Lost count. Mey, Petty, Maxwell, Nichols, McCambley, Marte, Leibrandt, and now Garcia. What is the strategy here? Bullpen is bottom tier and when we exhaust the Louisville options we will move on to Chattanooga? Why not a softball pitcher? You would think winning had some weight here.
If you’re disappointed just think how the REDS THEMSELVES feel just having to get a relief pitcher from triple A to just throw strikes and get a few outs here and there !! You act like they want to be playing this game instead of , ya know , EVERYONE JUST STAYING HEALTHY FOR THE WHOLE SEASON SMH YEP, tired and disappointed
I will contend the use of 10-11 bullpen arms from Louisville has a heck of a lot more due to dissatisfaction with the performance of the first 6-8 bring ups than any injuries. I think there have only been like 3 actual bullpen injuries. That means we have tried 10-11 different guys to cover 3 spots. Some have long since been DFAd. Some have been demoted twice. Which says it all. My question was at what point do you say there aint enough temporary mlb talent at Louisville? Or enough is enough? And at least 1 waiver wire guy that 6-7 teams worst than us said “no thanks”. This team and roster that Krall put together was in his words “a playoff contender”. How in the heck is that going to happen when we thrown away 5-6 eighth inning leads with bullpen collapses. That is 5 more losses and 5 less wins than we should have. Like we would be 3-4 games over 500 if we had just paid attention to bullpen quality. Or maybe Krall’s master plan is that this team is so good that making up 5-10 games in July will be no big deal for a contender. Hopefully he has got it right and I am the one misjudging our playoff contender abilities.
Another comment on bullpen injuries. There has been 3-4 longer term ones I can think of. Pagan, Ashcraft, Ferguson, and Johnson of a shorter term nature. That said, Pagan’s happened early in the year and had a finite timeline of 2 months ….not 15days! Ashcraft’s, which happened later, also had an extended timeline of close to 3 months….not 15 days. If you had servicible backup help at Louisville you might be able to cover 1-2 of these injuries for a few weeks. 2 months for one guy might be a 50:50 proposition at best. 2-3 months for 2 of your better guys is fantasy land. And I would argue that having 2-3 serviceable backups at Louisville is part of Krall’s 40 man responsibilities. As shown, despite 10-11 different candidates, not a one has been close to successful. A couple of longer term injuries, especially to your A and B pieces, need to be satisfactorily covered IF you consider yourself to be a playoff contender. I don’t see anyway you can blow off 5-6 games in May and June where you have the lead in the final couple of innings and consider yourself a contender unless you are as good as the Dodgers. The Reds are not that strong of team imo and need to win winnable games in May and June. Not even make a legitimate effort to plug known 2-3 month injuries to A and B bullpen pieces. Those 5-6 games where you hoped the 8th best pitcher at Louisville could save you, are going to be very difficult to makeup when you have your A roster mostly healthy. The 3 month absence of Hunter Greene is totally different. You had very serviceable fill ins in Lowder, Williamson, and Singer. No Hunter but certainly capable of holding the fort.
I liked what I saw from McCambley, but this guy intrigues me. Unconventional pitchers like this can mess with opposing lineups….Antone and Moll come to mind.
Given how little Benson has been used recently, it would seem his time has come. Maybe not in this roster shuffle, but soon.
When does Hunter Parks get his shot?
Where is Reiver when you need him?
I think he’s playing for SFG the last I saw.
Doesn’t walk many.Thats a good thing.Welcome.
I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or not but it seems like the pitching all around has been better since Derek johnson stepped away. Probably nothing to it but it seems that way.
Exasperation is a part of baseball and trying something new sometimes works out. Even having a lot of money for players is no guarantee of winning. The Mets are a good example.
Garcia has been around for awhile. Have to admire his dedication. Welcome to Cincinnati. I hope you do well.
I thought Garcia made a positive impression in ST. He seemed to be the guy who came in to finish an inning when the starter needed to leave mid-inning before he returned the next inning. He had several opportunities he wouldn’t have normally had. I don’t believe he was a non roster invitee, just a guy brought over from minor league camp. He seized the moment and you have to like that since so many have not.
What’s up with Phillips? Is he hurt or still struggling in AAA?
I think it’s good the Reds looking to bring in a guy who has been solid at Triple-A and doesn’t walk many hitters…Another guy who is a choice that could have been called up again could be McCambley. He also showed up good control. I guess Maxwell will be sent down…
Maxwell down and Paddack DFA’d are the pitching moves for Garcia and Johnson it looks like. Not surprising for either.
Looks like Elly not quite ready, should be soon though. Have the Reds fully converted Petty to a reliever? With the Paddack DFA, Petty keeps his spot with the Reds. Franco and Aguiar are the only 2 starters with the Bats that look like future potential starters as the others that are currently starting are journeymen. Maybe we see Acuna get a callup after the All Star break. Really like Sando too.
Great story for Garcia! Hopefully he can be like Fernando Cruz and go from someone in their 30s that no one has ever heard of to a very good reliever.
These are the 12th and 13th spots in the bullpen – no risk and won’t be a problem. The problem remains Greene, Pagan, Ashcraft, etc.. Aguiar is slowly coming around, and Acuna continues to progress. The level above them is essentially Petty and Phillips, and Petty is performing well. They need Phillips to return to form. The arms to worry about are probably Antone and Moll, but they’re both hanging around and doing well also.
They need a closer, but first things first. Still plenty of season left.