Marlins call up lefty prospect Garcia to help bullpen

WASHINGTON -- The Marlins recalled left-handed pitcher Jarlin Garcia from Double-A Jacksonville on Sunday, optioning righty Nick Wittgren to make room on the 25-man roster.
Garcia, a 23-year-old strike-thrower with a low- to mid-90s fastball, is the Marlins' No. 3 prospect, according to MLBPipeline.com. He posted a 4.04 ERA in seven starts for Double-A Jacksonville this season, with 25 strikeouts in 35 2/3 innings. This is his first Major League callup. He appeared in last year's Futures Game during All-Star Weekend in Cincinnati.
Though Garcia is a starting pitcher, he will come out of the bullpen for the Marlins, serving as a long man for the team's depleted relief corps. The Miami bullpen threw a total of 10 1/3 innings during Saturday's split doubleheader.
"We bring him in in this situation, after the innings I used yesterday, as a guy that's got six innings in him, got 100 pitches in him," manager Don Mattingly said. "If we would need that, that would protect our other guys."
Until Garcia's callup, Miami had been the only team in the Majors not to have a left-handed reliever on its roster, but Mattingly said the move was more about long-relief insurance than potential righty-lefty matchups.

Wittgren, 24, appeared in only four games after being called up in mid-April. The righty allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings, but he struggled to keep runners off the bases, ceding five hits and four walks.
Additionally, Miami returned No. 5 prospect Kendry Flores to Triple-A New Orleans, where he will likely be placed on the Minor League disabled list. Flores was called up to serve as the team's 26th man in Saturday's doubleheader. He started the second game, pitching three scoreless innings before exiting with a right shoulder strain. Because he was not officially part of the 25-man roster, he will not be placed on the Major League DL.