García Jr. continues to grow, gain confidence in Nationals' lineup

PHILADELPHIA -- The early May matchup against the Blue Jays was pivotal.

Luis García Jr. had gone 6-for-26 in the previous three series vs. the Dodgers, Marlins and Rangers, and his lone home run of the season had come on April 15.

Trailing Toronto by two runs in the seventh inning on May 3, García’s pinch-hit go-ahead homer off right-hander Erik Swanson sparked a late-game, eight-run rally. Two days later, García went 4-for-4 with another home run, four RBIs and seven total bases.

“After that, everything was really different,” García said before the Nationals’ 13-3 loss to the Phillies on Thursday night at Citizens Bank Park.

García is having a standout fifth Major League season. The 24-year-old has become one of the Nats’ top offensive contributors a year after he was optioned to Triple-A for 25 games last August.

“When you play in-between bad and good, your mind is going, ‘Hmm, am I going to play good today?’” García said. “When you’re playing good, you go up with the confidence to home plate and say, ‘Everything is going to happen.’”

García leads Washington in batting average and ranks eighth in the NL. He is hitting .290, compared to .266 last season, including his 21st double on Thursday. García already has stolen 19 bases this year, surpassing his total of 13 in his first four seasons combined.

García entered the series opener pacing the NL (third overall) with a .372 batting average, and ranking second in the NL with a .415 on-base percentage since July 3.

“As we all know, Luis has a lot of fun when he’s playing out there, and I love that about him,” manager Dave Martinez said. “When he starts worrying, you can see he doesn’t have that kind of enthusiasm. He’s playing well. He understands that he’s a good hitter, he’s got great hands. Now, it’s just about consistency with him and he’s starting to show that.

“He’s been fun to watch, he really has. … The overall game has definitely picked up for him.”

That success has carried onto the field. García is able to hone in on the action in front of him on defense.

“It’s like, you don’t think,” García said. “You go out to second base chilling, like, ‘I’m going to make every play that’s close to me.’ When you have confidence in your mind, everything’s going perfect. When you lose that, everything’s going bad.”

García prepared for this season by playing for Gigantes del Cibao in the Dominican Winter League. During his 12 appearances, García soaked up the ambience of the energetic crowd. The layout of the fields brought the fans closer to the action, and García channeled the pressure into production.

“You go 20-for-20, and then you get one fly ball, everybody is like, ‘Hey! What is that?’” García said. “That made you have more focus on the game. Every stadium is not like here. Here, you have your space. In the Dominican, you don’t have that. The fans are like, right there. I think that’s a good thing.”

García joined the Nationals during the 2016 international signing period from the Dominican Republic. Ranked by MLB as the No. 7 international prospect at the time, he earned a $1.3 million signing bonus. Four years later, he made his Major League debut at age 20.

“I always had confidence, but now it’s different. Everything is different. That time [when I signed], I had like 100 percent confidence,” García said, smiling, “Now, I’ve got like a million percent confidence.”

Martinez recognized García’s commitment to progress. He noted García’s consistency in the training room, agility drills, fielding practice with third-base coach Ricky Gutierrez and swing improvement with hitting coach Darnell Coles.

“He’s putting all the work in,” Martinez said. “For me, he’s got to understand this is an everyday grind, you can’t take days off here. I think he understands that now. … If he continues to do that, we’ve got ourselves a pretty good second baseman.”

García has embraced his role on a developing Nationals team. In spite of having five years of big league experience, he still is one of seven players on the active roster born in the 2000s. García was called up the season after the Nats captured the 2019 World Series, and he hopes to contribute to their next winning chapter.

“You have … a lot of young guys,” he said. “I want to be part of here. I want to stay here.”