“He really just stays on the other side of the baseball, he really does. Once he can use his legs, a lot of good things will happen,” Washington Nationals manager Davey Martinez said of Luis Garcia Jr. in September. It’s possible,” he said of Luis Garcia Jr. A breakthrough season at the plate (and in the field).
Garcia Jr. enters his fifth season in the majors with a (career-high) 3.1 fWAR campaign, hitting .282/.318/.444 with 25 doubles and 18 HR in 140 games and 582 plate appearances. finished.
“We like where his approach is right now,” Martinez added later this season. “So, I’m not going to make too much of a fuss about it. He’s really engaged. He’s really trying to have a good at-bat every single at-bat.”
Martinez said afterward that there are obviously some things that still need to be worked on, such as Garcia Jr.’s approach against lefties (In a total of 114 at-bats against LHP, he hit .259/.290/.352 with 5 of 25 doubles and 1 of 18 HR. .288/.326/.469 vs RHP).
“We’re still working on his approach to left-handed pitching in terms of staying out there and hitting select pitches,” the Nats’ captain said.
“The biggest thing is that he chases the ball a lot against left-handed opponents, and we’re trying to get him to understand getting the ball up and getting the ball to him more.
“He can’t cover both sides of the plate. It’s hard against left-handed pitchers. But he’s learning and he’s really good.”
“Garcia Jr., 24, was one of only six players in the major leagues in 2024 to hit at least .280, have at least 40 extra-base hits, and at least 20 stolen bases.” stated in a press release regarding the appointment. Monday Morning Silver Slugger Finalists:
“[García, Jr. ] His average batting average since July 3 was .312 (minimum 200 AB), which ranked fourth in the National League.
“He set career highs in batting average (.282), on-base percentage (.318), slugging percentage (.444), OPS (.762), home runs (18), and RBIs.”[s] (70), doubles (25), stolen bases (22), and hits (141).
“Among National League second basemen, Garcia Jr. ranks in the top three in slugging percentage (2nd), batting average (2nd), RBIs (2nd), OPS (2nd), and home runs (3rd). ”rd). He also led the Nationals, batting .312 with runners in scoring position, ranking second among NL second basemen.
Martinez said one of the biggest signs of Garcia Jr.’s maturity this season was the fact that even during the lulls, he wasn’t as sluggish as he was in previous seasons.
“He’s been focused on getting his next at-bat,” the manager said.
“If something goes wrong, he forgets about it. The big thing about him is that he doesn’t carry it over. If he’s 0-for-2, he doesn’t carry over those two at-bats, he puts them in front of him. He’s trying to focus on his at-bat and work on his next pitch. He’s gotten much better at that, and I think that’s a result of his maturity. We keep telling him, “You can hit.” Ta. We know you can hit. But I understood what I could hit and what kind of ball I could hit. ” So if all of a sudden he starts swinging at a downhill ball, you know right away, “Hey, I need to get the ball up.” We really had to get the ball up. ” and focus on hitting the ball high. And with two strikes, he got even better. On the second strike, he closes the distance just a little bit and really tries to put the ball in play. ”
According to Martinez, that short memory is what players need in the majors.
“Sometimes it takes time — you know, it took Lewis a few years — but we knew he had it, and what he’s doing offensively. That improves your defensive game. It goes hand in hand.”
Garcha Jr. (WSH), Jonathan India (CIN), and Ketel Marte (AZ) are the National League second baseman Silver Slugger finalists this season.
The winner will be announced at the Silver Slugger Awards, which will be televised on MLB Network on Tuesday, November 12th at 6pm ET.
