Note: Unless traded, he figures to be the IBC Padres starting 2B in 2025 ... he was pretty much a non-factor this IBC season because of his lousy defensive rating ...
One day,
Luis García Jr. ‘just decided to swing real hard.’ It worked.
Depending on your interpretation, Luis García Jr. explained his swing change in either the plainest or funniest way possible, though the 24-year-old’s grin indicated that he would prefer you see it as the latter.
“One day, out of nowhere, I just decided to swing real hard and see what the results were,” he said through a team interpreter.
That day was July 3 against the New York Mets. Before that date, his average swing was about 0.3 mph slower than the average big league hitter’s. In the sixth, he swung 13 mph harder than that. He and the fans at Nationals Park liked what they saw — a second-deck homer — so he swung extra hard in his next at-bat in the eighth and hit another no-doubter.
“The results were very good that day, so I just kind of ran with it,” he said.
Since that date, no qualified primary second baseman in baseball has a better OPS than Garcia’s .865.
This is who García has become in 2024. He is still the same happy-go-lucky character who has endeared himself to teammates in one of baseball’s youngest clubhouses, explaining, for instance, massive swing improvements away with a comedic touch.
He is also now focused on the process behind his progress. Not only does he make positive changes in his process — adding 1 mph to his swing in the second half, stabilizing his posture as well as his throwing mechanics and pre-pitch routine — but by and large, he sticks with them.
“I feel like sometimes in the past, I would focus on the big things and not worry so much about the little things, and it would affect my play,” he said. “Now it’s the other way around. Now I focus on the little things, and the big things just play themselves out.”
In spring training, following a surprise demotion in August 2023, it wasn’t a guarantee that García would even make Washington’s Opening Day roster. During a stint in the Dominican Winter League, he got his confidence back and became more attentive to the way others, such as Robinson Canó, approached the game. Now a more refined question has emerged — can he be the team’s everyday second baseman of the future?
García has decided to ignore the impressive statistics tied to his name, though the data tells a compelling and promising tale.
The following are career-best figures: a .281 average, a .758 OPS, 16 home runs and 21 stolen bases. He also has graded out as one of baseball’s better defensive players (which, after he graded out as one of the worst in 2022 and as below average in 2023, is a more-than-welcome development).
His future now seems to revolve around whether he can hit left-handed pitching. In the past, his at-bats against lefties often looked awkward. He showed a tendency to open up his stance too early, swing his arms out wide and make weak contact. Now he is picking his spots better — swinging at more pitches inside, which are easier for him to turn on — and crushing the ball.
In García’s first 50 plate appearances against lefties, he hit .170 with a .433 OPS. Since, he has hit .354 with an .893 OPS. Manager Dave Martinez has been particular about which left-handers he lets García see, trying to put him against more conventional lefties and sitting him against those with unorthodox releases, such as the Atlanta Braves’ Chris Sale and the New York Yankees’ Nestor Cortes.
The idea is to prevent García from facing a pitcher who would send him entirely out of whack. In a season filled with emerging talents having up-and-down seasons, García has had only one truly down month. There is, however, a flip side to Martinez’s approach: If García is the everyday second baseman on a team competing in October, he has to learn how to face those players eventually. Why not do so now, when he’s hot?
On Sept. 13, García’s 101st plate appearance against a lefty, he hit his first home run off a southpaw.
“He should tell himself, ‘I can hit anybody,’” Martinez said. “He’s got to keep his legs underneath him and not trying to do too much. When he does that, he can hit. I mean, he really can. I’m really proud of him because I was hard on him, as we all know, and so far, he’s put up some pretty good numbers. I only think he’s going to get better.”
“Every player wants to play 162 games,” García said. “Whether I’m facing a righty or lefty, I want to play out there.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2 ... s-hitting/