Luis García arrived at the Red Sox before the MLB trade deadline and was reunited with familiar faces, and he shares the same eagerness the club has amid their playoff push.
García provides Boston with another arm in the bullpen and is an ideal set-up option for Kenley Jansen, who he played with in 2006 on the Gulf Coast League Dodgers, while Justin Slaten remains on the injured list. The veteran reliever also is reunited with pitching coach Andrew Bailey as he seeks to make an impact on a team he grew up watching.
"When I was a kid, my dad (Amado) used to watch a lot of baseball and he was a Boston fan," García told The Boston Globe's Pete Abraham. "So I grew up watching a lot of Boston games."
The 37-year-old told The Boston Globe he was a fan of Pedro Martínez and Manny Ramírez because they were fellow Dominicans. He also was a "big fan" of Curt Schilling.
Those players were huge playoff contributors for Boston, and while García has five career playoff games in his career, he hasn't played October baseball since the 2022 season.
"I guess that's why I'm here so we can make it to the playoffs and all the way to the World Series," García said. "I want to feel that again."
The right-hander made his Red Sox debut in their matchup against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on Friday. He pitched a scoreless ninth inning to help secure Boston the 11-6 win.
