Over 20,000 people have suited up in the Majors, but none of them have accomplished what Astros prospect John Garcia did for the High-A Asheville Tourists on Wednesday night.
The 23-year-old collected five doubles in a single game en route to an 18-8 win over Bowling Green at McCormick Field. Fifty players in AL/NL history have delivered a four-double showing -- most recently, Jarren Duran of the Red Sox last July -- but none of them could reach that elusive fifth two-bagger. (The mark has also not been reached in the Minors since at least 2005, which is as far back as MiLB's single-game record keeping goes.)
"I feel so amazing right now," Garcia said. "I want to be in the big leagues, so when I heard about accomplishing something that's never been done in the Majors, it felt really good."
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To add to the impressive nature of the accomplishment, Garcia doubled off four different pitchers, with his longest at-bat only lasting four pitches.
“I’m just trying to study the scouting report for each of these pitchers,” Garcia said. “I’m also trying to hit early in the count. I really don’t like getting deep into at-bats, so if something is going in the zone, I’m going to swing at it. And it definitely worked today.”
When the Grambling State product roped his first two-bagger in the second inning, he stood at second base with the mental plan of going 4-for-4. Garcia did eventually hold his end of the deal when ripped a two-RBI double in the fifth inning. When he returned to the dugout, his teammates had an encouraging message for him.
“They said ‘Bro, let’s go 5-for-5 with five doubles,’” Garcia recounted. “In that moment, I knew it was something I could do. And I ended up getting a really good pitch to hit.”
The five-hit night raised Garcia’s batting average to .279, putting him on pace for a career best over his three years in the Minors. Since being called up to High-A last season, the Dominican Republic native has seen significant improvement at the plate.
Despite hitting .198 in 73 games for Single-A Fayetteville in 2023, he improved to .306 over 24 games after his promotion. The Astros’ 19th-round Draft selection in '22 attributes everything back to adopting an aggressive approach.
“This year I really want to expand my vision,” Garcia said. “It’s something I worked on the entire offseason. And I really also wanted to stay away from the sliders that were going outside.”
Growing up in the Bronx, baseball wasn’t even on Garcia’s radar. His life revolved around basketball until friends in high school encouraged him to try baseball, a sport which he didn't play full-time until his senior year. After limited exposure, he enrolled at Monroe College in New Rochelle, N.Y.
He made his lone season at Grambling State count by hitting .407 with 10 home runs and 67 RBIs. It’s why he took so much pride after finding out the significance of his five-double day. But as happy as he was being cemented in MLB history, he wants to continue laying down a foundation so he can reach his ultimate goal of playing in The Show.