Nationals Reveal Who Will Replace Luis Garcia Jr. at First Base
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Following the Washington Nationals' decision to trade Luis Garcia Jr. to the New York Yankees on Sunday, that opened up a hole at first base.
While Andres Chaparro has performed much better in the second half thus far, he was in a platoon with Garcia. So, the Nationals needed to slot in a left-handed hitter to player whenever the team was scheduled to a face a righty.
The choice about who that would be seemed fairly obvious. And Washington made things official when they announced that Abimelec Ortiz -- the team's No. 24-ranked prospect -- was recalled from Triple-A Rochester ahead of Monday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Abimelec Ortiz Given Runway to Become Team's Long-Term First Baseman
Ortiz was acquired as part of the MacKenzie Gore turn package this past winter. The 24-year-old crushed the ball throughout his minor league career with the Texas Rangers, and that has continued within Washington's organization.
Across 85 games with Rochester, Ortiz slashed .244/.348/.497 and hit 18 home runs with 25 doubles and 74 RBIs. He's hit double-digit homers in every season of his professional career, and he looks ready to be a big leaguer after going 1-for-2 with a double during his MLB debut earlier in the year.
What makes Ortiz such an intriguing prospect is the fact that he hits the ball hard and doesn't chase very often. In Triple-A this season, his average exit velocity of 91.2 mph is in the 88th percentile. His barrel rate of 12.1% is also in the 88th percentile, while his 46.4% hard-hit rate is in the 79th percentile. Combine that with a chase rate of 27.5% that's in the 50th percentile and a strikeout rate of 19.5% with a walk rate of 11.8%, and he has all the makings of being an impactful offensive player.
Will Ortiz be able to have the same production as Garcia? That doesn't seem likely since Garcia was performing like one of the best offensive players in the sport this season. However, Ortiz could develop into a version of Garcia that the Nationals got this year, which is one of the reasons why they were comfortable trading away Garcia to give Ortiz the reps it will take to figure out if he can become their long-term answer at first base.
How much playing time Ortiz will get coming down the stretch of the 2026 campaign isn't clear. But the runway is now open for him to solidify himself as their everyday guy going forward.
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Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he worked at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad became the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continued to cover Penn State athletics. Currently, Brad is the Publisher for Washington Nationals On SI and covers multiple teams across the On SI network. He is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, where he and his co-host discuss topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai