I usually reserve the spotlights for players who will be new to the Cape Cod Baseball League. Aramis Garcia will not be new. He spent the summer of 2012 in Cotuit and is slated to return in 2013.
But Cape League fans may seeing something new anyway.
Garcia, a standout prep catching prospect who was a 20th-round pick out of high school, hit .271 in his freshman year at Florida International. In Cotuit last summer, he was steady but not spectacular. He hit .250 with three home runs.
Now the breakout is happening.
Garcia was tabbed by Baseball America as the top prospect in the Sun Belt Conference before the season and he’s making that pick look like a very good one. Garcia is hitting .351 with 10 home runs and 40 RBI this spring. His on-base percentage is .399 and he’s slugging .565. His home run total puts him in a tie for 21st nationally, and he ranks second among underclassmen.
He has also started 41 of the team’s 42 games at the catcher spot, and in the one game he started at first base, he later moved to catcher. That’s huge for someone who has so much offensive potential; if he can stick at catcher, look out.
Garcia was a player to keep an eye on last summer, a name to file away. He could be much more this summer.