There is a level of pressure that comes with being a major league player. Washington Nationals second baseman Luis García Jr. is familiar with that feeling. But It doesn’t compare to the pressure he felt this offseason, when he played winter baseball in the Dominican Republic, his home country.
His family and friends were in the stands, watching his every move. The instruments echoed throughout the stadium. Boos rained down from opposing fans, and also from those who supported him.
“It’s one of those places where it’s interesting to the fans how you can go 15 for 15, but if you miss that 16th turn and now you’re 15 for 16, they start saying you’re no good.” Garcia said through an interpreter. “You learn to let it go in one way and out the other because obviously if you listen to it, it’s not a good thing. “Then you learn to concentrate, concentrate on what you are doing and not listen to the noise.”
It was through that noise that Garcia forged a new level of focus that has served him well this season. Garcia has been one of Washington’s best hitters, tied for second on the team in runs batted in (26) and second in OPS (.727) heading into Monday night’s game against the New York Mets. He has improved his range at second base after losing weight. He is slowly becoming the player the Nationals believed he could be.
The noise he heard was not unique to the Dominican Winter League. During spring training, Nationals manager Dave Martinez made it clear that Garcia’s job was not secure. That noise only increased as Garcia made familiar mental mistakes during the early stages of camp. But Garcia was with the Nationals on Opening Day and has only gotten better.
“I really think his overall concentration throughout the game has been better,” Martinez said. “These are conversations we had during spring training with him about what he needs to do and how I perceived things with him. He has been on top of everything. “I give him credit for making changes.”
In previous offseasons, García would return to his hometown, San Francisco de Macorís, to train on a field his father built not far from García’s childhood home. He would play in the Dominican Winter League for a week or two.
But this offseason, García played for the Cibao Gigantes for a month and a half, believing the environment would help him grow. García admitted that, in those brief previous periods, the fans’ insults got into his head. This time, he learned to concentrate because of it.
Catcher Keibert Ruiz understands the feeling. He remembers playing in the Venezuelan winter leagues early in his career and experiencing a cold snap at the plate. He was benched. When he got home, he joked that his friends told him he was good for nothing.
“That’s just how it is. If you don’t do the job right, especially where your family is from,” Ruiz paused and then smiled. “You just have to do the job right. … After that year I played baseball “Winter was my best year in baseball. So I think (García) has a little more confidence.”
García said the pitching in the Dominican Winter League was different from that of the majors. He wasn’t facing young, error-prone pitchers. Instead, he faced veterans who knew how to attack hitters’ weaknesses.
“I didn’t see any fastballs in the Dominican,” Garcia said before laughing.
Garcia is still chasing more than a season ago; His weakness has always been breaking pitches below the strike zone. But he said he has learned to work longer shifts until he gets his pitch instead of panicking, messing with his mechanics and swinging at pitches he couldn’t hit.
“I think at times last year we had situations where he would get to two strikes, but then it was more of an emergency swing,” hitting coach Darnell Coles said. “…We are far beyond that. He has made an adjustment, that consistency of being able to allow the ball to travel and make good decisions.”
Garcia entered Monday with a .579 slugging percentage on breaking balls, the highest of his career. He attributes that improvement to his new approach and his father, who helped him adjust. García explained that he has always had a flat swing. So, especially against breaking balls, he hit the top of the ball and often grounded out.
But this offseason, Garcia made a slight adjustment to his elbow swing so he could stay under the ball and elevate more pitches. For his career, Garcia has a 53.7 percent ground ball rate. This season, he’s down to 45.7 percent, closer to the MLB average.
Garcia was a defensive liability at times a season ago, but has shown improvement there as well. He previously had trouble making routine plays. Garcia’s outs above average, which measures a player’s defensive range, in his first four MLB seasons: minus-7, minus-12, minus-13, minus-4. This season: 1.
“This game is all about concentration,” Garcia said. “If you don’t focus, it’s hard to succeed.”
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