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.