Washington Nationals news & notes: Luis García, Jr. becoming player Nats believed he could be... (2024)

Luis García, Jr. went 4 for 4 at the plate in the Nationals’ series finale with the Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon, and combined with a single in his final plate appearance on Saturday’s game, he has reached base in five-straight PAs.

As the club mentioned in their post-game notes following their 11-8 win on Sunday, he has now reached base in 9 of his last 11 PAs going back to his pinch hit home run in the series opener with Toronto in D.C. on Friday.

García, Jr. has also now reached base in 14 straight games, with hits in 13 of the 14.

On the year, the Nationals’ 23-year-old infielder has a .337/.381/.510 line with eight doubles, three home runs, and six stolen bases in six attempts.

“It’s obviously surprising; it’s surprised me a lot,” García said of this recent stretch of success, as quoted by MASN’s Mark Zuckerman, after Sunday’s game:

“But I think the one thing I’m learning the most during this streak is the fact to just stay focused, and stay with the same level head. No matter what happens on the field, just keep staying focused out there.”

“It’s been very gratifying, right?” Davey Martinez said when the manager spoke with reporters about García’s start this season, after some up-and-down play by the young infielder over the last few years.

“I mean I’ve had him for such a long time now, and to see him actually really mature the way he’s done, his growth, it’s been great.

“He’s finally starting to grasp what he needs to do every day to succeed. And that was my ultimate goal with him, was to show him, ‘Hey, you can play here, but these things need to happen, and they need to happen consistently.’ And he’s showing that right now. So, I’m not talking about hitting, because everybody is going to go 0 for 4, I’m talking about the little things. Running the bases well, understanding where to play, positioning, making good throws, getting your feet underneath you when you make the good throws, being ready at all times, anticipating the ball being hit to you and knowing what you want to do with it. All that stuff he’s done really well with so far, so I’m really proud of what he’s done and where he’s at, and if he continues to do that, he’s going to have a good year, he really is.

“So, I’m excited about his progress so far this year. We got to stay on him, which I will, and we’ll keep him going.”

Nationals’ GM and President of Baseball ops Mike Rizzo told 106.7 the FAN in D.C.’s Sports Junkies late last month García’s early-season success is the result of a lot of hard work on his part and on the part of his coaches.

“[Hitting Coach Darnell Coles] and [Assistant Hitting Coach] Chris Johnson and he have worked diligently since January to kind of refine his stroke,” the GM explained, “… to refine his approach at the plate, and it’s no secret with Luis, since he’s been with us — since we signed the kid. When he gets pitches in the strike zone he can really hit. And when he gets in trouble he chases and gets out of the strike zone. So the constant with Luis is to keep him focused in and zoned in on the strike zone, what pitches he can handle the best and that’s really a by-product of our hitting people sitting down with him each and every day before the games and really [mapping] out a strategy for each individual pitcher that we’re going to face.”

“So, congrats to him, he worked really, really hard this offseason and through Spring Training and I think Darnell and CJ have done a job with him to kind of refine that thought process and to really get his swing to where he’s staying on the baseball, using the whole field, not trying to be pull-happy, and I think he’s seeing the results of that work.”

García, Jr.’s Barrel% (11.5%) early this year is up from a career average of 6.5%, his Exit Velocity (90.8 MPH average) is up as well (from 87.4).

His HardHit% (52.6%) is up too (from a 35.9% career average), and his K% year-to-year is down from 22.3% in 2023 to 19.0% this season (though it is up slightly from his 17.5% career average), while his BB% is up (6.7%, from 2.9% in ‘23 and 4.5% in his career).

García, Jr.’s ZoneContact% the last two seasons (91.0% in 2023 and 92.1% this season) is up from a career average of 87.5% and 83.1% in 2022.

“You know, I’ve had him now for four[-plus] years, and I’ve always said there’s something in there, right?” Martinez said on Sunday afternoon. “I just got to figure out how to get it out of him, get him to understand what we’re trying to do, what he’s trying to do, and he’s starting to figure it out, which is awesome. He’s been engaged, not only hitting, but playing defense as well. He’s made some good plays. I’m watching him, his pre-pitch is getting a lot better. He knows what he wants to do now, when he’s hitting, and when he’s playing the field, so it’s been fun to watch him. It’s still a long season, so we got to keep him going.”

One potential concern… García, Jr. tweaked his wrist trying to stretch a single into a double in Sunday’s game, and Martinez took him out when it started to get sore a while later.

“He hurt his wrist on a slide. He started to get a little sore, so I wanted to take him out and get him looked at,” the manager said after the game.

Hopefully it’s nothing serious, because a month-plus into the season, García, Jr. is on to something, and he is looking like the player the club has hoped he could be since they signed him in 2016 and since he made his MLB debut in 2020.