C’s Chat – 2025 Vancouver Canadians RHP #23 Nate Garkow – C's Plus Baseball

It’s a bullpen edition of C’s Chat with 2025 Vancouver Canadians pitcher Nate Garkow.

Born in Arcadia, California, Garkow was a two-sport athlete from Charter Oak High School in Covina, California, where he played football and baseball. He went to junior college at Pasedena City College and was an All-South Coast Conference First Team member in 2018 with a 6-6 record, a 3.96 earned run average and a strikeout/walk total of 73-17 in 75 innings.

Transferring to Division II Point Loma Nazarene in San Diego, Garkow spent four seasons with the Sea Lions where he won a combined 11 games. His best year was his freshman season in 2019 when he won six of nine decisions with a 3.53 ERA and 59 strikeouts against 27 walks in 66-1/3 innings. That earned Garko a spot on the All-PacWest Third Team and a 2020 Preseason All PacWest slection. In the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, he struck out 20 batters in 20 innings. Garkow continued to average over a strikeout an inning in 2021 and 2022 with a combined 122 punchouts in 100 innings, helping Point Loma Nazarene reach the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship in 2022.

Garkow’s next baseball journey was a turn in the independent leagues. He joined the Sioux Falls Canaries of the American Association, where he tossed 26-2/3 innings and struck out 31 batters to go with a record of 1-0 and a 2.70 ERA in 2022. The good news for Nate during his stay in South Dakota was getting to join his older brother Tyler Garkow on the Canaries pitching staff. However, Nate’s stay with the Canaries would come to an end as he was traded to the Gateway Grizzlies of the Frontier League.

Garkow’s two-year tenure with the Sauget, Illinois ballclub would a good one. He struck out 60 batters in 47-2/3 innings and went 7-2 with a 3.80 ERA in 2023. He was even better in 2024 when he rung up 37 batters against eight walks in just 15-2/3 innings with the Grizzlies. A 3-0 record and a 1.72 ERA helped pad Garkow’s resume and that drew the attention of the Toronto Blue Jays director of minor league operations Charlie Wilson. It culminated in the Blue Jays signing Garkow as a free agent on July 1. An Instagram video captured the moment when Garkow learned he was joining the Jays organization.

The Dunedin Blue Jays was Garkow’s first stop and after putting together six scoreless appearances out of eight, he was promoted to Double-A New Hampshire in early August where he struck out three batters over three innings and three appearances. Garkow would finish up the year with Dunedin where he fanned 30 batters in 21 innings and won all four of his decisions with a 2.14 ERA.

Now with Vancouver to start 2025, Garkow is finding his stride by punching out 12 batters over 5-2/3 scoreless stanzas, including his first Northwest League victory against Eugene in his Nat Bailey Stadium debut on April 17 in which he whiffed six batters over 2-2/3 innings. Garkow picked up his first save with three shutout innings and three punchouts at Everett on April 26.

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C’s Plus Baseball chatted with the 27-year-old Garkow during the team’s first homestand against Eugene. This interview has been edited for clarity.

C’s Plus Baseball – It was Canada Day, July 1st, that you signed with the Toronto Blue Jays. How did it all come about?

Nate Garkow – It was a surreal feeling. You know, I’ve never been one of those guys that was sought after coming out of college, so I still believed in myself and still knew that I could compete at the next level so I worked my butt off in indy ball. And thankfully, I had a really good start to the 2024 season in the Frontier League and that helped me land with the Blue Jays.

CPB – How did you get the news that the Blue Jays are interested?

NG – Yeah, it was kind of random. I got a call from my manager (Steve Brook) with the Gateway Grizzlies, and he told me that the Blue Jays were interested in me and that I was going to be receiving a call very soon just to talk to them. So I waited by the phone for a while. I got another call from the manager and he told me they were going to sign me and right then and there is when I got the call from Charlie Wilson and got everything situated. Within 24 hours I was in Florida at the complex.

CPB – What did you think about going to Dunedin and seeing all the bells and whistles of not just a fairly new park but the Player Development Complex? I’m sure that was a lot to take in.

NG – Yeah, that was crazy. I was living in a dream. I mean, that complex is gorgeous. They have everything you need. And then playing in Dunedin, I mean, that was amazing. I just tried to soak everything in. It was really cool.

NG – You did start off with the Dunedin Blue Jays last year. How did you feel your season went?

NG – Yeah, I felt like I continued what I was doing in indy ball and put up great numbers. I kept believing in myself and continuing that trend with that confidence on the mound, and it’s worked out so far.

CPB – How would you describe yourself as a pitcher for anyone who hasn’t seen you before? How would you give a scouting report on yourself?

NG – I’ve never really thought about that. But obviously I’ve got the changeup. That’s the big pitch that I have. And so the scouting report is, you know, watch that changeup. Not to be overly confident, but even when guys know that changeup is coming, it doesn’t make it any easier to hit for them. I don’t have the upper 90s velocity fastball, but I get good metrics on it to combat that with the change up, and it works out well. And I have a cutter and a slider. I haven’t used those much so far this year, but they’re in the mix as well. So, it’s fun. It’s fun playing games on the mound with the hitters.

CPB – So, you really enjoy the pitchability aspect of it.

NG – Yeah, I do. Yeah, I enjoy that cat and mouse game. Guys think they know what’s coming. They think that I don’t throw hard enough, so when I throw a fastball by them, it really messes with their head, so it’s kind of funny.

CPB – As it has been said, pitching is just basically trying to disrupt the hitter’s timing. Is that a philosophy that you just kind of came upon naturally?

NG – Yeah, you know, I’ve always had a scratch and claw for my opportunities in baseball throughout my entire career and getting to pro ball wasn’t anything different. I continue to keep my head down and focus on everything ahead of me and I’m happy with the results so far.

CPB – Taking it back to the start of your career, when did you first start pitching?

NG – I started pitching as a kid playing PONY ball. My Dad was coaching a lot, so I was always kind of playing everywhere but pitching was great. My brother (Tyler) was a pitcher. He ended up playing pro ball as a pitcher as well. Once I got to college, I kind of flourished into pitching. I wasn’t a very good hitter, so pitching was the thing for me. And I’ve always had that change-up. So watching that develop over the years and get better and better has been pretty cool.

CPB – Your brother was in pro ball as you mentioned. Was he a big influence in your career?

NG – Yeah, definitely. Huge influence. He played indy ball at basically kind of like Double-A level, the American Association. And he actually played in the Frontier League, American Association, and Atlantic League. So he had quite the experience. We talk all the time. We talk pitching. We talk strategy. Whether I have a good game or bad game, he’s kind of like one of my mentors still. And being able to look up to him, I think he’s a big reason why I continue to strive and push forward through all that indy ball stuff.

CPB – You pitched at Point Loma Nazarene University. When you look back on your time there, what stands out for you? Any special memories?

NG – Oh man, too many memories. It was gorgeous playing at that location. I was extremely blessed. Another thing was, it was a private Christian university, and I always considered myself a Christian. But when I got there, that’s when I really found Christ. And that helped me go through some family issues. My Mom passed away in 2018 from breast cancer. So that was really helpful. I think it was a blessing in disguise being at a university like that. Coaches, teammates, friends, teachers, they were all extremely helpful and that helped me get through some tough times.

CPB – So it really helped you not only grow as a baseball player but as a person.

NG – Yeah, the baseball. That was kind of the the easy thing. That was the escape from everything. Just playing and being able to help that program flourish to what it is today. It’s a very respectable program now, and to be a part of that, I’m grateful for that.

CPB – Sioux Falls was your first taste of indy ball, and it’s not very often that players get traded. How did you find out about all that?

NG – I didn’t know that could happen in between leagues in indy ball but that was interesting. At first I was a little caught off guard, a little set back from it. Not entirely thrilled but talking you know with my brother, he’s been through that type of stuff. I found the light at the end of the tunnel and the silver lining that that could be a new opportunity for me to make a statement and create my own path. I took that opportunity and I ran with it.

CPB – How did you find the level of play at indy ball compared to pro ball?

NG – You know, I think indy ball has gotten a lot better all these last few years, especially with the decrease in organizations with all those players and COVID and everything. But that level of baseball, it’s pretty good right now. A lot of guys who were former affiliate guys trying to get back to affiliate are in indy ball. And so that level of competition, it’s still there in indy ball so it wasn’t too big of a difference. It’s just in affiliate ball, I feel like the little details of what matters, what separates great players from good players, and so you start to see that more and more in affiliate baseball.

CPB – Your first appearance here at Nat Bailey Stadium. As you mentioned, change-ups. I saw a lot of high 70s on the scoreboard. I wasn’t seeing a whole lot of fastballs but that was obviously your game plan heading in, and obviously it worked, you were piling up the strikeouts at the end.

NG – Yeah, definitely. It was cool to be in front of the crowd at Nat Bailey for the first time. And I was excited to pitch for the entire city of Vancouver. I’m excited to do that in the future as well. But, yeah, that was awesome. The plan was, you know, just attack early, get ahead and send them down with that changeup. And we were able to work that plan to a tee.

CPB – Entering a game like that where the runs are coming fast and furious, it was a long game too, but you managed to grind through it and it got better as the outing went along.

NG – Yeah, definitely. That was definitely one of the longer, weirder games. A lot of stuff can happen and you can let things spiral out of control. But if you can stop bleeding at any point on either side and then kind of get some momentum, that’s where those big momentum shifts in games like that. Just keep the momentum on our side and that’s what I tried to do and it worked out.

NG – The bullpen is that a role you think you’re suited to in the end or is starting something maybe you would like to do if the opportunity ever presented itself?

NG – Well, I mean, I was a starter in college and I enjoyed that but I believe my stuff in my repertoire that plays better out of the bullpen, especially coming into tough situations. I feel like I’m pretty apt for that, and I enjoy coming out of the bullpen. It gives me kind of like an alter ego, a different mentality coming out of the bullpen, and there’s a lot of fire.

NG – Growing up, did you have a favourite Major League team or player?

NG – Yeah, I grew up in Southern California. I was a big Dodger fan, even through the tough times when the Dodgers weren’t very good. But I always idolized Clayton Kershaw and his tenacity and his ability to block out a lot of the outside noise, especially, you know, with the playoff stuff. But he’s always been one of the greatest, and so I look up to him a lot.

CPB – Any other favourite pro sports teams?

NG – Yeah, I’m a huge Chargers fan. I wish they were still in San Diego, but I’m glad that they’re in L.A. I love the Chargers. I like the Kings. Playing the Oilers for the fourth time in four years for the first round. Hopefully, the Kings can get on the other side of that. I grew up a huge Kobe (Kobe Bryant) fan. I love the Lakers. I always think about having that Kobe mentality. That’s one of those things.

CPB – Final question. The Canadians have a whole bunch of uniforms—red, blue, black, white, gray, the lumberjack edition. Do you have a favourite uniform?

NG – I’m a big fan of the clean, just white look at home. I’m excited to play at home in the whites in front of the big crowds. I’ve heard nothing but great things about these crowds. And I’ve seen so far the last few games at home, I’ve seen some good crowds and it’s fun. It makes pitching mean a little more.

Nate Garkow File

Born – September 4, 1977 in Arcadia, California.
Height/Weight – 5-foot-11, 190 pounds
Bats/Throws – Right/Right
Professional Debut – July 2, 2024, Dunedin at Clearwater
1st Professional Strikeout – July 2, 2024 at Clearwater, Avery Owusu-Asiedu.
1st Professional Win – July 30, 2024, Dunedin at Daytona Beach (3IP 0R 6K)
Uniform Numbers – Wore number 16 with Point Loma Nazarene from 2019-2022, wore number 2 with Sioux Falls in 2022, wore number 20 with the Gateway Grizzlies in 2023 and 2024, wore 21 and 39 with Dunedin and number 19 with New Hampshire in 2024.
Mound Music – “When the Levee Breaks” by Led Zeppelin.
Twitter – @nathan_garkow
Instagram – @nathan_garkow
The More You Know – The last Vancouver Canadian to come from Point Loma Nazarene was 2019 pitching coach Demetre Kokoris, currently working for the New York Yankees.