Kyle Garlick has had to make some difficult decisions in his young life, certainly more than most young men his age should have had to make.

The 23-year-old outfielder from Chino Hills, California – a short 45-minute drive from Dodger Stadium – began his college baseball career at the University of Oregon, graduating in the spring of 2014. In his three years with the Ducks, Garlick became the all-time leader in triples, was third in runs batted in and ranked sixth in games played. Unfortunately, an injury caused him to miss considerable time in 2014 and upon his return, he hit only .251 with five home runs and 42 RBIs – not exactly the overwhelming kind of numbers that MLB scouts are looking for. And although Garlick had been contacted by several major league teams and fully expected to be selected in the 2014 MLB First-Year Player Draft, his name was never called.

He was devastated.

Because Garlick had graduated after only three years, he could return to Oregon for the 2015 season as he still had a year of college eligibility left. However, to do so he would have to register in graduate school as an engineering student – a very expensive proposition. But Garlick had an even bigger concern, a concern that ultimately forced him to make the extremely difficult decision not to return to Ducks. At the beginning of the 2014 season, Kyle’s mom was diagnosed with breast cancer.

To return to the Ducks in 2015 would have meant another long period of time away from his mother. Because of this and with little scholarship assistance available at Oregon, Garlick decided to move back home to Chino Hills where he enrolled at nearby Cal Poly Pomona – a Division II school – with hopes of attracting the attention of MLB scouts.

“He’s got his degree and his mom is suffering from some health-related problems,” said Oregon head coach George Horton. “He’s doing it for the right reasons. It’s quite a bit of money to come back here for graduate school. We’ll miss his bat.”

Garlick’s gamble, or perhaps his gut instinct, paid significant dividends. Off the field he was by his mother’s side as she beat breast cancer. On the field he made an immediate impact for the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos hitting a very impressive .358 with a record 17 home runs while driving in 56 runs.

Garlick had only one season to catch the attention of MLB scouts while playing for the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos – and he did just that. (Photo credit – Tom Zasadzinski)

The highlight of his season came in a championship game in which he hit two long home runs as Cal Poly defeated UC San Diego 7-4 in the NCAA Division II West Regional championship game at Mt. San Antonio College. His second home run was a 415-foot blast over the center field fence in the eighth inning.

Even though Garlick was still disappointed at not having been drafted in 2014, he entered the 2015 draft with confidence and optimism, and he was rewarded. The Dodgers selected Garlick in the 28th round.

“I kind of had a feeling it was going to happen,” said Garlick after receiving the call informing him that he was now a Dodger. “I was talking to a few different teams. It was just a stressful few days for me, man. I kept going back and forth trying to keep myself busy checking the list and then I finally got called. It was super exciting.”

The 6’ 1”, 210-lb right-handed hitting outfielder reported to the Arizona League Dodgers to begin his professional career. In four games with the AZL Dodgers Garlick was 6 for 16 (.375) with three RBIs, along with a .389 OBP and it was obvious that his skill set was well above that level of play. As a result, he was promptly promoted to the Ogden Raptors of the Pioneer Rookie League.

Garlick’s stay in Ogden was almost a mirror image of his time with the AZL Dodgers. He again played four games with six hits and three RBIs. His Raptors batting average was .400 with a .412 OBP, and yet again it was obvious that he needed to play at a higher level.

On Sunday, June 28, Garlick was once again promoted, this time to the Class A Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest League. He made his Midwest League debut on Monday night as the Loons starting left fielder and looked right at home at the plate. In his first plate appearance he was awarded first base on catcher interference. In the third inning he was out on a fly ball to center field.

Garlick’s first Class A base hit came in the fifth inning on a line drive to right field. In the seventh inning he again went to the opposite field for his second hit – another line drive single to right field. But in spite of Garlick’s successful debut with the Loons, the Dayton Dragons took the series opener by a score of 9-2.

Although Garlick will probably spend more than four days with the Loons before his next promotion, it’s probably safe to say that he will see action at LoanMart Field with the Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes at some point this season – the same LoanMart Field that is only 10 minutes from where Kyle was born and raised… as a Dodger fan, of course.