Perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that Luis Garcia, the player that started last season in Double-A as an 18 year old, is now making his major league debut just two months after turning 20. But with Starlin Castro’s broken wrist and a lack of impact middle infielders, the Nationals are giving the youngster his shot. Hey, worked with Juan Soto, right?
The Rankings
Garcia ranked third in our Washington Nationals Top 30 list from just three months ago and 172 in our Top 500 Fantasy List.
The Tools
Hit (45 present/60 future): The profile lives and dies with the hit tool. He has quick hands and very strong bat to ball skills. He stays inside the ball and sprays it to all fields (see chart below), another strength. Garcia can get to the ball in all areas of the strike zone and is a tough guy to strike out as a result (career 15 K% in minors). But his ability to make so much contact also leads him to swing at pitches that instead he can take for a ball, hence his typical 5 BB%. Expect pitchers to be aggressive and pound him with fastballs.
Luis Garcia spray chart shows no discrimination against any direction
Power (40 game/50 raw): Garcia doesn’t really engage his lower half, instead depending more on his quick hands to get to the ball. His swing has a little loft to it but more often than not its on plane with the ball which leads to line drives into the gaps or down the lines. Even with a slightly stocky build and his present muscle, there aren’t huge power gains here. There are scenarios where 15 home runs manifest in a full season, but I’d easily bet the under on that figure.
Defense (45 field/50 arm): Garcia’s got the arm to stay at short but his actions are stiff and his below average speed isn’t ideal. He’ll play up better at second aka the left field of the infield. He’s debuting at second base for Washington and that’s where he’ll see most, if not all, of his time.
Speed (45 present/40 future): You always want contact first guys to have some speed to their game but alas, that’s not the case here for Garcia. Like I mentioned, he has a stocky build. He’s listed as 6-foot-2, 190 but I’m thinking that’s about 20-30 pounds too light. He managed 11 steals last year (with 5 CS) in Double-A but don’t expect that to be a major part of his game.
Prediction: Clearly the Nationals are not happy with Josh Harrison or Wilmer Difo as starting options, so they’re calling up what is now the youngest player in the MLB. He’s batting sixth in his debut, slightly higher than I would expect, maybe a sign of confidence from the team. His strong bat to ball skills should prevent him from looking too lost at any moment. Expect something like a .260/.310/.375 line in the early going.
Fantasy Impact: Garcia is worth picking up in 15-tm+ leagues with a middle infield spot but it’s more of a volume play than a skills one. In shallower leagues, I’d watch some at-bats to make a determination. But don’t expect many home runs, steals or counting stats. Pretty boring overall.