Washington Nationals Second Baseman Had All-Star Caliber Season
As the Washington Nationals finish up the 2024 season, there are a lot of positive takeaways from the year.
This season, the Nationals took a big step forward in their rebuild, as a lot of their top prospects got called up and made an impact. In their infield, shortstop C.J. Abrams was named to his first All-Star team, as the prized prospect from the Juan Soto deal had an excellent first half of the season.
In addition to their talented shortstop making an impact, Washington also saw their second baseman take a big step forward. Despite being just 24-years-old, Luis Garcia Jr. has already been playing with the Nationals for five seasons now, as he came up as a teenager.
This season, Garcia has had his breakout year, as he has totaled a .280 batting average, 16 home runs, 65 RBIs, and 21 stolen bases. The young second baseman has set career-highs across the board, and has really developed into a very balanced offensive player.
While his teammate and fellow middle infielder might have made the actual All-Star team, Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com spoke about Garcia being deserving of being an All-Star this season.
“García’s performance is one of many things the general public won’t notice about this Nationals season, but he’s emerged as one of their many exciting young building blocks. With a .280/.319/.440 slash line, 16 homers and 25 doubles, the 24-year-old García has shown more power than anticipated, and he’s also swiped 21 bags.”
It has certainly been an excellent campaign for the slugger, as the career-highs in major offensive categories indicate. For the Nationals, the emergence of Garcia has really solidified their plan for the future, as he is clearly their second baseman now.
Having a strong middle of the infield is very important, and while Garcia isn’t nearly as good defensively as Abrams, he is serviceable at the position.
Moving forward, Washington will continue to watch their young prospects develop. In the stretch run, the Nationals are trying out their outfield of James Wood, Jacob Young, and Dylan Crews. With their middle infield set and the outfield looking that way as well for the future, the needs for Washington will be clear in the offseason in the field.
Even though he might not have been named an All-Star this season, Garcia has had an excellent season and is certainly going to be an important part of the franchise for years to come.
