Last season at this time Cuban-born Cesar Garcia was 21 years old and the starting left fielder for the Coos Bay Sea Lions, the Class A affiliate of the Portland Lions.  Yesterday  he was the starting left fielder and #3 hitter for the Portland Lions against the Akron Dandies at Washington Park in Portland.

In what has been an improbable rise through the system, Garcia has managed to bypass both AA and AAA to make the major league squad. The Lions liked what they saw out of Garcia towards the end of the 2010 season in Coos Bay and decided to invite the 22 year old to spring training.

Nobody in the Lions organization expected Garcia to have much of a chance for the final roster spot, given that SS Kang-Il Mun and 2B Jamey Browne were both major league ready and were older and more experienced and Lee Miles had already claimed the back up outfielder spot.

But Garcia outplayed both Mun and Browne in spring training. He hit .280 /.333/.560 in spring training, and stole 3 bases. Given the performance, the Lions decided to keep Garcia as a 5th outfielder.

So far this season Garcia has not disappointed. He has hit .296/.406/.481 over his first 27 at bats and has stolen 2 bases. Lions manager Stanley Conrad has him penciled in as the starting rightfielder vs. lefties in place of Felix Moran. The Lions like his speed and defense off the bench. Garcia is a useful pinch runner in close and late situations, and this is probably the primary reason he made the club out of spring training. Coupled with 2B Fernando Montero, the Lions have 2 speedsters they can use for late inning pinch running.

Nobody could have expected that Garcia would have advanced so quickly after posting a .263/.343/.415 line at Coos Bay in 2010. Rarely does a player bypass both AA and AAA and manage to stick in the major leagues, but Garcia, at least through the first month of 2011, has. Garcia’s tenure with Portland hangs on a thread, and he will most likely be sent down should he slump. But for now, Garcia is enjoying the ride.