Luis Garcia, I was assuming, was meant to be anticlimax.
The Nationals have a habit of putting their hopes on anticlimax players, and they've been doing it a lot since 2018. Even when Juan Soto was heating up the league, the Nats were going 'naw, Victor Robles is gonna be the guy'. That persisted for far too long. Then it happened with Carter Kieboom for far too long. You can argue it's happened with Josiah Gray and Keibert Ruiz, two prized prospects that have taken forever to actually blossom. Ruiz is doing better this year, but is Gray cooked? He might be. And the Nats just refuse to give up on these guys, even far beyond the expected timeline for a great player to take off. You still see Mitchell Parker kicking around in there, they haven't learned.
So Luis Garcia Jr., who's been in the leagues since 2020 and has delivered subpar defense and no offense since then, has now decided he's one of the best power hitters in Washington. Now. Six years in, at 26, right when everyone was about to give up on him. Is this....a payoff???
Here is what Luis Garcia Jr. has accomplished so far this year. A .284 average, 20 home runs, 68 RBIs, an .871 OPS. Now, Garcia's year-high for homers before this year was 18, for a full season. And to be clear...Luis Garcia has PLAYED...SEVERAL FULL SEASONS. The problem isn't that he's not there, the problem is that he's there and he's not doing anything. But now he can really hit. Those long-balls were all coming in succession the last month or so, and now he's genuinely a fearsome power hitter. Luis Garcia. And it's not even because this lineup can't hit for power, it absolutely can. I don't know if you all noticed, but the cleanup hitter in the All Star Game was a National. HE WAS THE SHORTSTOP. C.J. Abrams has 20 homers this year. Curtis Mead has 17 homers this year. And James Wood obviously can hit for power, he has 28 homers. So it's not like Garcia became a power hitter because nobody else would, he's become a home run guy IN ADDITION. That makes this team so much scarier, even if, logically, nothing else is gonna happen this year.
It's just a matter if this is gonna become a regular occurrence for Garcia, because that would be nice. This Nats team is slowly coming together, with Mead and Nasim Nunez earning everyday roles, Daylen Lile showing definite staying power, Dylan Crews preparing to re-ascend to where many thought he'd end up [maybe HE'S the anticlimax], and Foster Griffin looking like a working anchor for the rotation. I think more pitching developments need to come together before I can take this team seriously, but as a sneaky spoiler with insane power ability, the Nats have been very surprising and very comforting.
And if Luis Garcia's finally found his niche on this team, that makes it all worthwhile.
Coming Tomorrow [?]: Finally, the guy who might be the catcher for the next generation of Royals teams. Not a bad hitter either.
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