Nationals' Luis Garcia: Scratched due to heel injury
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Garcia was scratched from Friday's lineup in Philadelphia due to a right heel injury, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.
Garcia also didn't start Wednesday's game versus the White Sox after his heel got caught by a cleat earlier in the series. The infielder expects to be fine to play Saturday. Ildemaro Vargas has entered the lineup in Garcia's place.
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Nationals' Luis Garcia: Getting rest in series finale
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Garcia is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the White Sox, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.
The White Sox are bringing southpaw Garrett Crochet to the hill for the series finale, so the Nationals will stock up on some extra right-handed bats. The lefty-hitting Garcia will hit the bench after he went 1-for-8 with a walk while starting at second base in both ends of Tuesday's doubleheader. Trey Lipscomb will fill in for Garcia at the keystone.
Garcia jammed his wrist Sunday sliding into second base and was replaced by pinch hitter Ildemaro Vargas in the eighth inning, but he's not expected to miss much time, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.
The Nationals had an off day Monday, so Garcia might not end up missing a start, but it wouldn't be a surprise if manager Dave Martinez gave him an extra day to recover. Garcia has had a breakout season so far, slashing .337/.381/.510 with three homers and six steals in 105 plate appearances.
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Nationals' Luis Garcia: Good to go Tuesday
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Garcia (wrist) is batting third and playing second base Tuesday against the Orioles, Andrew Golden of The Washington Post reports.
Garcia won't miss any time after jamming his left wrist during Sunday's game, filling his usual three-hole spot against the right-handed Corbin Burnes. Garcia has generated a hit in 13 of his last 14 games, including a four-hit outing Sunday prior to the injury.
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Nationals' Luis Garcia: Homers, swipes bag in four-hit day
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Garcia went 4-for-4 with a home run, four RBI, two runs scored and a steal during Sunday's win over the Blue Jays.
Garcia's third homer of the season was a solo shot in the third and represented the second of his four hits on the day, with three of those hits producing runs. It was the culmination of a big weekend for Garcia, who went 7-for-9 with two walks, two homers, eight RBI and four runs and a steal during the three-game set, raising his average to .337 in the process.
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Nationals' Luis Garcia: Big homer off bench Friday
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Garcia went 1-for-1 with a walk, a three-run home run and a second run scored in Friday's 9-3 win over the Blue Jays.
The 23-year-old began the night on the bench with Yusei Kikuchi toeing the rubber for Toronto, but Garcia got the call to pinch hit for Trey Lipscomb in the seventh inning once the southpaw was out of the game. Garcia delivered, launching the first pitch he saw from Erik Swanson to straightaway center field to put the Nationals in the lead for good. The long ball was his second of the season, and the first pinch-hit blast of his career. Garcia is headed toward a breakout campaign, slashing .300/.344/.456 through 27 contests with five steals, six runs and 14 RBI.
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Nationals' Luis Garcia: Sitting against southpaw Wednesday
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Garcia is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Rangers.
With lefty Andrew Heaney on the hill for Texas, the lefty-hitting Garcia will move to the bench Wednesday. Ildemaro Vargas will pick up the start at second base in place of Garcia, who has now sat out three times -- all against southpaws -- in the last four games.
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Nationals' Luis Garcia: Out against lefty again
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Garcia is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Marlins.
The lefty-hitting Garcia will hit the bench for the second day in a row while the Marlins bring another lefty (Trevor Rogers) to the hill. The Nationals will turn to the switch-hitting Ildemaro Vargas to replace Garcia at the keystone.
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Nationals' Luis Garcia: Moves to bench Sunday
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Garcia is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Marlins.
With southpaw Ryan Weathers on the hill for Miami, the lefty-hitting Garcia will hit the bench for the first time since April 14 while Ildemaro Vargas steps in at second base. While manning the keystone for each of the last 11 games, Garcia went 11-for-42 (.262 average) with one home run, four stolen bases, five RBI and one run.
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Nationals' Luis Garcia: Produces in clean-up role
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Garcia went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a stolen base during Sunday's 6-0 win over the Astros.
Garcia's first inning single off Houston starter Hunter Brown provided the second and third runs for the Nationals. He later added his fifth steal while the three hits raised his average to .317. Perhaps more importantly, it was also the second-consecutive game Garcia was placed in the lineup as the clean-up hitter. Garcia already has seven doubles through 63 at-bats this season after posting 18 over 447 at-bats last year. With the added extra-base pop and a spot in the heart of the order, the 23-year-old Garcia could be in line for a breakout 2024.
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Nationals' Luis Garcia: Swipes fourth bag
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Garcia went 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base in Friday's loss to the Astros.
That's now four steals on the season for Garcia, including three in the last two games. The 23-year-old second baseman is having a strong start to the year overall, slashing .296/.333/.481 through 17 games with seven doubles, a homer, four runs and eight RBI, and he's hit either fourth or fifth in four straight games -- all against right-handed pitchers -- as the Nationals search for a batting order that can produce consistent offense.
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Nationals' Luis Garcia: Steals two bags in Wednesday's win
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Garcia went 1-for-3 with a walk and two stolen bases in Wednesday's win over the Dodgers.
The 23-year-old stole a career-high nine bases last year, and Garcia is already 3-for-3 on the basepaths to begin 2024. After looking like his starting job at second base might be in jeopardy this spring, Garcia's come out of the gate slashing .294/.321/.490 through 16 games with seven doubles, a homer, four runs and eight RBI. He's also been working his way into a better spot in the batting order against right-handers, and he hit cleanup Wednesday. If he stays in the heart of the lineup, Garcia's counting-stat production should pick up.
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Nationals' Luis Garcia: Belts big homer in victory
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Garcia went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run against the Dodgers in Monday's 6-4 win.
Garcia produced the biggest hit of the contest for Washington, slamming a three-run homer in the fifth inning to extend the team's lead to four runs. The long ball was his first of the campaign, but he's also tied for third in the league with seven doubles. Garcia has looked good so far this season, slashing .318/.333/.545 with eight RBI, four runs and a stolen base through 45 plate appearances.
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Nationals' Luis Garcia: On bench against lefty
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Garcia is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the A's, Andrew Golden of The Washington Postreports.
Lefty Alex Wood is taking the mound for Oakland, so Garcia will head to the bench, and he's now started just twice in seven games against southpaws. Ildemaro Vargas will handle the keystone Sunday for Washington.
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Nationals' Luis Garcia: Sitting versus southpaw
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Garcia is not in the starting lineup Tuesday against the Giants, Andrew Golden of The Washington Post reports.
Garcia will get a breather as the Nationals square off with lefty Kyle Harrison. The switch-hitting Ildemaro Vargas will replace him at second base, batting seventh versus the Giants.
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Nationals' Luis Garcia: Swipes first bag of season
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Garcia went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base in Monday's win over the Giants.
The 23-year-old swiped his first bag of the year on the back end of a double steal with Trey Lipscomb in the second inning. Garcia came into the season with a very tenuous grip on the starting job at second base, but so far he's risen to the occasion, batting .321 (9-for-28) with five doubles, four RBI and three runs scored. He hasn't hit higher than eighth in the order, however, so even if he does begin to put things together in 2024, his fantasy ceiling is capped unless he can earn a better spot in the lineup.
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Nationals' Luis Garcia: Gets breather against lefty
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Garcia isn't in the Nationals' lineup for Saturday's game against the Phillies.
With left-hander Ranger Suarez on the mound for Philadelphia, the lefty-hitting Garcia will step out of the lineup Saturday. Ildemaro Vargas will fill in at the keystone and bat seventh.
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Nationals' Luis Garcia: Platooning at second base
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Garcia is absent from the lineup in Thursday's contest against the Pirates.
The Nationals are facing lefty Martin Perez, so the left-handed hitting Garcia will take a seat. Garcia has been on the bench both times the Nationals have gone up against southpaws, so it would appear he'll be in a fairly strict platoon with the switch-hitting Ildemaro Vargas at second base.
