8.7.1
Waldorf, MD – The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs announced the re-signing of two lineup staples on Tuesday afternoon, Edwin Garcia and Zach Collier. The Blue Crabs will hold a Zoom Press Conference on Thursday, 4/1, at 3 PM EST with this week’s new players, and is open to all fans and media.
Edwin Garcia returns to Southern Maryland as the most accomplished defensive player in franchise history. The Venezuela native comes back for his fourth season with the Blue Crabs in 2021 and will look to continue racking up the awards. Garcia was named Southern Maryland’s team MVP, or co-team MVP in each of his first two seasons with the organization. Incredibly, in each of the last two seasons, Garcia has received the Atlantic League's Rawlings Gold Glove Defensive Player of the Year Award. The shortstop is the first player ever to win the award in back-to-back years and the first to win the award multiple times since the introduction of the award in 2015.
Garcia went on a tangent in the second half of the 2019 season, racking up RBI’s at a rate unprecedented in his career with nearly one every other game. The fourth-year Blue Crab has found his groove in Southern Maryland after nine successful seasons in the Texas Rangers organization where he reached as high as Triple-A.
“I’m excited to come back with the team. I feel great there and I will do my best to try to help my team win the championship this year,” said the two-time reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Garcia on his re-signing.
Zach Collier was the Blue Crabs third-round selection in the 2019 New Britain Bees dispersal draft. The outfielder was originally drafted in the first round in the 2008 MLB Draft, six picks after Gerrit Cole.
Collier’s most successful professional season was in 2017 in the Washington Nationals organization, split between the Triple-A, Double-A, and Single-A- Levels, combining for a .281 batting average and a .843 OPS. The Chino Hills High School graduate played ten seasons of affiliated baseball before joining the Atlantic League in 2019.
“Edwin Garcia has embodied what it means to be a Blue Crabs since the first day he stepped on the field, and we see Zach being the same type of player. Collier is a veteran outfielder that leads by example on and off the field,” said Blue Crabs General Manager, Courtney Knichel.
About the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs - The Blue Crabs play in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. The Blue Crabs, set to kick off their 13th season of baseball, call Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf, Maryland home. For more information on the Blue Crabs, please call 301-638-9788 or visit http://www.somdbluecrabs.com for more information.
To purchase tickets for the Blue Crabs 2021 season, click HERE.
For the Blue Crabs 2021 COVID-19 policies, click HERE.
About the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB)
The Atlantic League is the first Professional Partner League of Major League Baseball, a player gateway to the major leagues, and a leader in baseball innovation. ALPB has sent over 950 players to MLB organizations while drawing 42 million fans to its family-friendly ballparks over its 24-year history. Please visit www.AtlanticLeague.com.
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