Brad Brach was selected in the 42nd round of the 2008 MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres, but he didn’t fully establish himself as a quality major league reliever until 2014 with the Baltimore Orioles.
As such, Brach identifies with the journey right-handed reliever Rico Garcia has taken to Baltimore. Garcia was taken in the 30th round of the 2016 MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies and bounced around with seven different organizations before finding his footing in the big leagues late in the 2025 season with the Orioles.
Garcia, 32, has taken it to another level in 2026. The 5-foot-9, 215-pound right-hander has been one of the best relievers in baseball, allowing two runs and four hits in 20.1 innings while striking out 25 and walking seven. The under-the-hood metrics back it all up, too.
“To me, the words that come to mind are unbelievable and remarkable,” Brach said on Glenn Clark Radio May 18. “It is just something that is absolutely incredible. He should be getting way more publicity than he has — probably doesn’t want it, brings a lot more attention to him. He’s doing unbelievable. When you’re a journeyman, you’re just hoping to be on a roster and find a role. He hasn’t just found a role, he found the role in this bullpen. It’s so fun to watch. You can just tell how confident he is.”
Brach, who pitched in relief for the Orioles from 2014-2018 and made the American League All-Star team in 2015, is now the co-host of “Birdland Territory,” part of the “Foul Territory TV” network. What stands out most to Brach is the confidence with which Garcia is operating, saying Garcia must feel like he’s back to pitching like he did in the minor leagues when he had a lot of success.
Garcia offers a four-pitch mix (four-seamer, changeup, slider and curveball), oftentimes making hitters look silly.
“To me, just watching this guy pitch, it’s like he’s pitching in the minor leagues right now,” Brach said. “He’s so confident. He’s getting ahead with everything, striking guys out. He’s just doing everything his team has asked for. It’s just really cool to watch, especially being a bullpen guy. For me, I bounced around there a little bit before I got to the Orioles. It’s really cool to see a guy get there, have success and keep it consistently going.”
Recently, Garcia has filled in as the Orioles’ closer with Ryan Helsley (elbow) sidelined, though Orioles manager Craig Albernaz opted to use Garcia against the middle of the Yankees’ order in the eighth inning on May 11. Helsley is expected back at some point in June, at which point Garcia will likely slide back into a setup role.
That plan makes sense to Brach, who racked up 32 saves during his time in Baltimore.
“Rico Garcia has shown he can do it in other innings,” Brach said. “Ryan Helsley last year kind of struggled in the eighth inning when he went to the Mets. It could’ve been the Mets, could’ve been the situation, but to me closers who have done it for a little bit, it’s really hard trying to put them in other places and trying to get them to do other things.”
For more from Brach, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Colin Murphy/PressBox