CINCINNATI — Julian Garcia sat in the media interview room outside the Cincinnati Reds’ clubhouse at Great American Ball Park and looked at the assembled reporters and cameras, just waiting for someone to ask him a question ahead of his big-league debut.The 31-year-old right-handed pitcher’s journey has led him all over the professional baseball world, but this was the first time he’d been here, literally and figuratively. A 10th-round pick by the Philadelphia Phillies a decade ago, Garcia was a member of the independent Kansas City Monarchs of the American Association a year ago, and now he was in a major-league park as a big leaguer. And nobody was saying anything.“Hi,” he said, breaking the ice. “I’m Julian.”The Cincinnati media had been waiting for the broadcast team to set up its camera, but Garcia didn’t know that.Why MLB's draft proposal would be bad for baseball's futureKeith LawThe ensuing question-and-answer session with Garcia was too brief to completely recount his path to the majors. Garcia’s circuitous route includes:• Playing college baseball at Division II Metropolitan State University of Denver.• Being drafted and spending six seasons in the Phillies’ organization.• Taking the 2023 season off after the Phillies released him.• Teaching private lessons to Little Leaguers and making his own highlight reels to send to teams during his year away from competitive baseball.• Spending nearly two full years with the Monarchs.• Signing with the Reds late last year to join Double-A Chattanooga.• Dominating Triple-A with Louisville to start this season.• Clearing the TSA PreCheck line at the Atlanta airport Sunday night and immediately being greeted by Louisville Bats manager Pat Kelly, who told him he was going to Cincinnati on Monday and then embraced him.“The Baseball Reference (page) really shows the journey,” said Rob Coughlin, the Reds’ senior director of professional scouting. “The last time he was in affiliated ball was 2022. It could have been the end of the road for a lot of guys, but not only did he stick with it, he found ways to get better.”After taking all of the 2023 season off, Garcia didn’t have any offers from affiliated teams and joined the Monarchs for 2024 — a season that saw the squad move its home games after the club’s home field was deemed unplayable. Garcia went 5-1 with a 2.54 ERA, the second-best mark in club history, but again didn’t get any bites from a big-league organization.“These guys understand that this is the level of baseball, which they are in a sink or swim situation,” Monarchs manager Joe Calfapietra said. “This is the position that they’re in. It’s all or nothing for them.”Baseball, even if it meant another season with the Monarchs, was all that mattered to Garcia.Calfapietra is in his 26th season in independent baseball, and when Garcia pitches for Cincinnati, he’ll become the 13th player Calfapietra has helped reach the big leagues, joining former Reds Fernando Cruz and Tim Adleman. Calfapietra credits Shawn Pender, the Reds’ vice president of player development, with helping him along his baseball journey. That connection helped lead to the signings of Adleman and Cruz — and Coughlin and Calfapietra see several similarities between Garcia and Cruz, who is now with the New York Yankees.