Pitching in WBC 'still up in the air' for Braves' Garcia

Jaime Garcia wants to pitch for Team Mexico in the upcoming World Baseball Classic, but the 30-year-old left-hander said Tuesday he might have to skip the tournament to ensure he's prepared to take the mound for his new team, the Atlanta Braves, come Opening Day.

"I love my country, I've always wanted to represent them, but my priority is the Atlanta Braves," Garcia told David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "With how much they invested in me and they believe in me, that’s what I'm focusing on, on being ready in April."

Garcia, acquired in December after a dozen years in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, was unable to pitch in the 2013 WBC due to shoulder injuries, and would especially relish the opportunity to pitch in Jalisco, in the northeast of Mexico, in the first round of this year's tournament, but he intimated there's a chance he drops out of the tournament to focus on season prep.

"(Pitching in the WBC) is still up in the air. Right now we’re trying to make the best decision for everybody. Not just for myself and my future, but for the Atlanta Braves. That's my priority right now."

Limited to just 36 starts with St. Louis from 2013-2015 due to a litany of injuries, Garcia managed to stay healthy last season, logging 171 2/3 innings - his most since 2011 - albeit while posting a 4.67 ERA, his worst since he threw 16 innings in his debut campaign.

Still, Garcia - a free agent next winter - is poised to be a major part of a revamped rotation for a Braves team moving towards the latter stages of a rebuild.

"I saw those (November) signings, and I just thought last year when I played against (the Braves) and the end of the year, watching the lineup and the defense and the excitement - I had a good feeling about this ballclub, playing against them," he said. “Then I saw the way they were going about it, with the signings, like Sean Rodriguez and those two (starters), and a lot of the talent they had on defense and in the bullpen ….

"I was keeping up with that, and when the trade happened I was very excited. If I were to pick a team, if they asked me where you wanted to get traded, Atlanta would have definitely been at the top of the list."