Washington Nationals Star Luis García Jr. Deserves Better Offensive Fate

The Washington Nationals 2025 campaign has been defined to this point by the breakout efforts by young stars like James Wood, CJ Abrams and MacKenzie Gore.

Wood looks like a future MVP caliber star, and Abrams looks posed to settle in as one of the eight or so best shortstops in the sport.

In Gore's case, he has blossomed into a legitimate contender for the National League Cy Young award this season in addition to his status as the clear strikeout king of the NL.

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When counting the members of the team's impressive young core, it's easy to forget 25-year-old infielder Luis Garcia Jr., but he has every bit of the talent necessary to be a contributor to a contender moving forward.

He's swinging the bat at a high level this year, but his basic numbers have yet to capture how well he's been hitting.

Can Nationals Infielder Luis Garcia Jr. Improve His Numbers?

With a slash line of .263/.304/.409, Garcia Jr. is right in line with his career averages at all three key hitting stats.

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However, in digging just a bit deeper, it's clear that he's having something closer to a breakout season from his past level of performance, even if it's not showing up quite yet.

According to Baseball Savant data, his expected batting average sits at .314, while his expected slugging rate checks in at .508.

He's squaring the ball up with great frequency, ranking in the 92nd percentile in that category. He's also elite at strikeout avoidance, getting set down on strikes at just a 12.4% clip, good enough to put him in the 92nd percentile.

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If he gets some better luck for the rest of the season in terms of finding gaps in the defense and cutting back on his high chase rate, it's easy to see him pushing his production toward a level that's in line with the best hitters at the second base position.

That would be a huge development for the Nationals, because as it stands right now, Garcia Jr. is on the lower end of defensive infielders.

His fielding run value is just sixth percentile, so as Mike Rizzo goes about building this team into a contender, Garcia will likely need to produce more offense to contribute to a true World Series contender in a full-time role.

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