Fossil Ridge’s Julian Garcia makes MLB 10 years after being drafted

Another baseball star from Fort Collins has made Major League Baseball.

Fossil Ridge High School graduate Julian Garcia made his MLB debut on June 23 after being called up by the Cincinnati Reds the day before.

Garcia pitched an inning and two thirds in Cincinnati’s 2-0 loss to Milwaukee. He gave up two walks and an earned run and was tagged with the loss, but he also recorded three strikeouts for the first K’s of his career.

“I just sat there and was just like ‘wow, this is a childhood dream and I made it happen,'” Garcia told reporters about his callup. “It took a little longer than I wanted it, but I worked my butt off to get to this point.”

It was a long journey to this point for the 31-year-old Garcia.

The 6-foot-3 righthanded pitcher is a 2013 graduate of Fossil Ridge High School. He then starred at Division II Metro State and was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 10th round of the 2016 MLB draft.

Since then, he’s taken a long, winding journey to baseball’s top level a decade after being drafted. Garcia pitched in the Phillies minor league system from 2016-22, briefly making Triple-A but never reaching the majors.

He took the 2023 season off after being released by Philadelphia.

Since his time in Philadelphia’s minor league system, he’s pitched in independent minor leagues with the Kansas City Monarchs. He also pitched in the Puerto Rico winter league before signing with the Reds in 2025.

Garcia was called up from the Triple-A Louisville Bats. He has posted a 3.03 ERA with 12 walks, 54 strikeouts and four home runs allowed over 35 2/3 innings this season for the Bats. Garcia made 19 of his 21 appearances in relief for Louisville.

Welcome to The Show, Julian‼️ pic.twitter.com/2I5oIHvjav

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) June 22, 2026

Fort Collins players who have been in MLB include Marco Gonzales (MLB 2014-24), Codi Heuer (MLB 2020-present), Andy Burns (MLB appearances in 2016 and 2021) and J.D. Hammer (MLB appearances in 2019 and 2021).

Sports reporter Kevin Lytle can be found on social media on X, Instagram and Threads @Kevin_Lytle and on Bluesky.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Reds player Julian Garcia makes MLB debut 10 years after being drafted