Luis

Garcia Jr.

García has continued to split time at second base with Amed Rosario, which makes it notable that he’s sitting on Wednesday night with righty Andre Pallante toeing the rubber for St. Louis. The 25-year-old infielder has put together a strong couple weeks recently, but he’s just 4-for-18 with one steal over his last seven games. The decision probably has something to do with Pallante being one of the rare reverse splits starters in the game.

As is the case most times the Nationals face a lefty, Garcia will take a seat against the Tigers today. Amed Rosario will start in his place at second base and bat third against Dietrich Enns on Thursday evening in Washington D.C. Josh Bell and Daylen Lile are also sitting this one out for the Nats.

The Tigers are using left-hander Tyler Holton as a bulk reliever to start Game 1, so the Nationals will counter with Rosario. Regular second baseman Luis Garcia Jr. will likely enter the game when a right-handed reliever comes out and should start Game 2 against Jack Flaherty.

It was a one-homer game in Nationals Park, but it would have been a three-homer game in Wrigley, according to Statcast, as García had 368- and 395- foot flies in addition to the 411-foot homer. The 368-footer turned into a Brenton Doyle error, while the 395-footer was just a flyout. All five of García’s balls in play tonight were hit hard. He’s batting .333 with two homers and nine doubles in his last 21 games.

García takes a seat along with fellow left-handed batter Nathaniel Lowe, while switch-hitters Josh Bell and Keibert Ruiz are also on the bench on Monday night with rookie southpaw Carson Palmquist taking the ball for Colorado.

García was practically the only Nationals hitter that could do anything against David Peterson here as he threw a complete game shutout. He accounted for two of their six total hits and that double was their only extra-base hit. Which is ironic, given García’s notable struggles against left-handed pitchers. Such is life though when one’s as hot at the plate as García is right now with a 1.006 OPS over his last 15 games.

No surprise here as García has taken a seat occasionally against left-handers. He’ll get a break with southpaw Matthew Boyd taking the ball on Wednesday evening. The 25-year-old second baseman has been in a groove lately, hitting .333 (19-for-57) with two homers, 13 RBI and one steal over his last 15 games. It’ll be Nasim Nuñez getting a chance at the keystone to open the game.

The four hits are a season high for Garcia. The two RBI came in the 10th on a ball that Leody Taveras completely misplayed, but it still counts. Garcia has been a disappointment thus far in 2025 with a .250 average and .700 OPS, but there’s lots of time for the 25-year-old to turn things around.

It’s a different look on Saturday for the Nationals as they square off against San Francisco lefty Kyle Harrison. Rosario has been bumped up to the second spot, behind table-setter CJ Abrams to break up the trio of left-handers in Abrams, James Wood and Nathaniel Lowe. Luis García Jr. has been dropped to the seventh spot for this one.

García drove in two runs with a base hit in the first inning and would come in to score as the Nationals put six runs up off Kyle Gibson in the opening frame. He then doubled to drive in another run in the second inning. It’s an encouraging day at the plate for the 25-year-old second baseman as came into the game hitting just .175 in May.