masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgSAN DIEGO – The Orioles added two pitchers today in the Rule 5 draft as they acquired right-hander Jason Garcia through a trade and selected right-hander Logan Verrett.

The Orioles acquired Garcia from Houston for cash considerations. The 22-year-old pitcher was selected fourth in the draft out of the Boston Red Sox organization.

Garcia went 3-2 with three saves and a 3.67 ERA in 14 combined games (seven starts) with Single-A Lowell and Greenville. He struck out 9.4 batters per nine innings…SAN DIEGO – The Orioles added two pitchers today in the Rule 5 draft as they acquired right-hander Jason Garcia through a trade and selected right-hander Logan Verrett.

The Orioles acquired Garcia from Houston for cash considerations. The 22-year-old pitcher was selected fourth in the draft out of the Boston Red Sox organization.

Garcia went 3-2 with three saves and a 3.67 ERA in 14 combined games (seven starts) with Single-A Lowell and Greenville. He struck out 9.4 batters per nine innings and held right-handed hitters to a .189/.275/.236 line in 121 total plate appearances.

Originally selected by Boston in the 17th round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft out of Land O’Lakes High School (Fla.), Garcia has gone 15-16 with a 4.69 ERA in 73 minor league games (51 starts).

Here is Dan Duquette’s comments on Garcia:

“One of our scouts, Danny Haas, had some history with Garcia. He pitched very effectively against us in the instructional league. We saw him a lot. He pitched against 18 of our hitters and struck out 14 of them this fall.

“He’s a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher with a nice delivery and good secondary pitches. And although he has only pitched in Class A ball, he has very good equipment and skills to be a major league pitcher. … He’ll pitch at 22 next year.

“He’s a Florida kid and completed his rehab from Tommy John. So he’s ready to roll. That was a scouting recommendation. Our scouts really like the quality of his pitches and his velocity is mid-90s and up with a good slider. So we’ll get a chance to take a look at him this spring.

“Our scouts really like Garcia. He’s got good stuff. He’s not very tall, but he’s a pretty impressive kid.”

Logan Verrett.jpgVerrett, 24, went 11-5 with a 4.33 ERA in 28 starts with Triple-A Las Vegas in 2014. In three seasons in the Mets organization, he has gone 28-13 with a 3.89 ERA and 3.5-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Verrett was originally selected in the third round of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft out of Baylor University.

Here is Duquette on Verrett:

“Verrett was a third-round pick out of Baylor. Won 12 games for the Mets at Triple-A. Got a really competitive, winning record as a starting pitcher in the minors.

“Outstanding control and a very good slider. He’s an accomplished pitcher. He’s won at Baylor, at Double-A and Triple-A and he should be ready to compete for a major league job. Where he ends up in the big leagues, who knows? But he’s got excellent control and a really good slider that can out right- and left-handed hitters.”

It seems like Verrett has the better track record of these two, but Garcia may have the better stuff and arm. Garcia is a pitcher the O’s are taking a bit of a flier on here.

“We got two good arms today and we’ll take a look at them in the spring,” Duquette said.