Garcia opened 2024 in a precarious position. After taking a mild step forward in 2022, he did not have a good 2023 at the plate. Toward the end of that year the Nats, as they are wont to do, singled Garcia out as a player to make an example of and unexpectedly dropped him to the minors. If you are thinking I'm misjudging the situation and he deserved it as part of a larger issue with concentration - the idea of him being "sloppy" or "making too many mistakes" just isn't backed up by the data. Don't feel bad, even I bought into some of the spin they were putting out. Turns out though he made real improvements from 2022 to 2023 both on defense and on the basepaths. No, this was a guy simply not hitting who the Nats wanted to hold up as a warning sign to young players. This is what they do.
He did not hit in AAA or at first when brought back up but perhaps the Nats ploy did work in the end because Garcia hit great in the last two weeks of 2023 and better than he ever has in 2024. This includes a scorching July and August where he hit .like .340 with 8 homers. I think most importantly though the Nats didn't try to make him more selective and let him hit. Walk-rate down, K-rate up but a LOT better hitter. His defense continued to improve and he had another solid year baserunning. In no aspects was he great but he was good all around from the start of the season and secured the position for himself for 2025.
Presumed Plan :
Luis Garcia Jr will man 2B with Vargas backing him up.
Reasoning behind Presumed Plan :
After C, 1B, and DH you might think the Nats are in big trouble, but really that's was just a bad starting point for the team. They have several things set pretty well for 2025 and second base is one of them. Garcia Jr isn't one of the best second baseman in the game but he might squeak into the Top 10 and he's most certainly not a problem. We talked about it a little in the start of the off-season. He hit the ball a lot better. At 24 he can still improve so this is a no-brainer.
The Vargas back-up call is about flexibility. Vargas not only played 2B and 3B but SS and OF when needed. That kind of positional flexibility is very nice to have.
My Take :
Not much here. Garcia has solidified himself at 2B. It's possible he has an off-year again and the Nats sour on him. They do seem to focus on players in this way. But Garcia has generally looked ok enough that you shouldn't consider him a problem. Last year there was a question if someone would push him from the minors, either Lipscomb/Kieboom straight up or a shifted House. The first two didn't push and House didn't shift. With no one pushing him from the minors he's set. I don't think there will be any disagreement from the rabble.
Vargas is a nice defender. Best at third but being able to fill in late on D at even SS is a boon for a team who have a bunch of guys that look like they should be good on D but aren't. Plus by all accounts he's a great clubhouse guy. Shame he can't hit at all, but at least he does make contact. Weak, weak contact, but contact. In terms of issues, "utility infielder could hit better" might rank last on things to fix so while it could become a drag if the Nats suffer any long term injury problems, for right now Vargas makes sense. Worry about fixing this if you are making a title push and want no holes.
No disagreement here.
ReplyDeleteAnd that’s a very interesting take on the demotion last year. Especially because that remedial stint gave the team an extra year of control.
No disagreement here, either. Garcia was the 2024 Nats' only position player worth 3 fWAR. He is *literally* the least of the team's problems at this point. Vargas is a perfectly cromulent utility infielder; like all utility infielders I don't want to see him playing very much, and I hope that the 2025 Nats roster is constructed so that we don't have both he and Nunez on it, but he's a fine player for that role.
ReplyDeleteIf Nunez can play 2B, I would rather have Nunez than Vargas. I might actually prefer Nunez to Abrams, if the Nats couuld stack all the normally powerful hitting positions (corner OF/IF)
DeleteI've never had the confidence to assess another person's internal thought processes or motivations, so I'm not going to wander into the reasons that the Nationals sent Garcia down to the minors. Whatever the reasons, it seems to have worked - so taking a backhanded smack at the organization for doing it seems to me to be unjustified. Yes, I realize that this makes me ill-suited for the internet. I'm OK with that.
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping that Garcia uses his 2024 as a foundation for continued progress. As Harper and the rabble agree, while the Nats certainly have things to work on at the moment second base is not a priority.
Hey. My smack talk was completely forehand.
DeleteThe facts are they said (or fed information to the beats) that they wanted him to have a better total preparation, while he had shown improvement over the previous year on defense and base running according to the statistics. Where you want to go from there is up to you but where ever you end up is a choice.
So Tena (who can hit) won't push Vargas off the roster? We'll see.
ReplyDeleteUnless they sign a FA or make a trade, Tena's in line to begin the season as the starting 3B. If he hits in that role, than he'll stick on the roster even after (if) House comes up. If the Nats do fill 3B externally, then Tena goes into the pile of "potential bat, no glove" players like Chapparo and Yepez, where his ability to at least pretend to play IF positions may keep him on the roster. Vargas's ability to play SS makes him needed in the Utility IF role, unless the Nats would rather keep Nunez for that job. (They should definitely not keep both of them.)
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