It’s one of those things that nobody likes to talk about and, for the most part, they don’t – sending an established young relief pitcher back down to the minor leagues to work a few things out. But as much as people may not want to acknowledge it, Dodgers right-handed reliever Yimi Garcia could benefit from spending some time away from the big leagues.

Garcia, who started his rookie season off like gangbusters, has struggled quite a bit of late. It’s not that he’s awful, it’s just that he isn’t as lights out as he was during the first six weeks (or so) of the season. In fact, if you simply went by his numbers, you wouldn’t even realize that he is struggling. He has appeared in 29 games thus far, is 3-2 with a 3.81 ERA, has struck out 38 and walked nine.

But if you dig deeper into Garcia’s stats than just his record, ERA and strikeouts, you will find that he has also blown four of the his five save opportunities which is tied for the most in all of baseball with Steve Cishek of the Miami Marlins. However, what the stats won’t tell you is that one of his three wins – Friday night’s – was a vulture win where he entered the game with a 2-1 lead, blew the hold and the save and then collected the win because his team came back in the top of the eighth inning. Another thing that the stats don’t tell you (unless you dig real deep) is that Garcia has allowed four inherited runners to score – third most on the team behind only Chris Hatcher (7) and Paco Rodriguez (5). Garcia has also allowed five home runs – tops among all Dodger relievers.

To paraphrase the words of the great poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – When Garcia is good, he is very good indeed, but when he is bad he is horrid – and lately Garcia has been horrid. Gone is that fire-in-the-eye confidence that he exuded during the first six weeks of the season. In it’s place is the “deer in the headlights” panicked look. This is where a stint back in the minors – even if only briefly – might help the 24-year-old Moca, Dominican Republic native regain his confidence.

The look of confidence that Yimi Garcia once had is now a look of uncertainty.
(Video capture courtesy of Fox Sports)

Realistically, the Dodgers may have no choice but to send Garcia back down to OKC. Dodgers reliever Brandon League, who is out of options and in the final year of his three-year / $22.5 million contract with the Dodgers, is on the cusp of returning from the disabled list. League began the season on the 60-day DL after opting to try an extended rehabilitation stint over season-ending shoulder surgery, a huge gamble at best. And while he has exceeded his projected eight-week rehab period, he has done exceptionally well in his rehab assignment with the Dodgers Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes over the past week.

League has appeared in three games with the Quakes where he has allowed only one unearned run on three hits while striking out two and walking none, and by every indication he is probably only a week or two away from being MLB game-ready. And once he is, the Dodgers will have to activate him from the DL or designate him for assignment and eat the $7.5 million they still owe him for the 2015 season.

The Dodgers could, of course, option left-hander Adam Liberatore or right-hander Josh Ravin back to Triple-A and keep Garcia in their bullpen and hope that he finds himself again before digging himself even deeper into a hole, but “Lib” (as Mattingly calls him) is 2-1 with a 3.06 ERA through 21 relief appearances with 18 strikeouts and five walks in his 17.2 innings of work and Ravin is 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA, three strikeouts and no walks in his brief three innings of work since his June 2 call-up.

Another choice, albeit unlikely, would be for the Dodgers to designate Joel Peralta for assignment once he (too) returns from the DL, but this still doesn’t address the current roster logjam that Brandon League’s return will create. The one remaining alternative would be to designate struggling right-hander Chris Hatcher for assignment which would undoubtedly make many Dodger fans happy. However, in spite of his struggles, Mattingly (and even more so Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi) seem to be enamored with the 30-year-old Kinston, NC native in spite of his frequent Brian Wilson-like outings.

But regardless of how it is done, the Dodgers need to take a real close look at trying to reestablish Yimi Garcia’s confidence, and perhaps spending a few weeks away from the high-stress atmosphere of the big leagues will do the trick.