Nationals Have to Move on From Luis Garcia Jr. at Second Base for Betterment of Team
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The Washington Nationals are going to use the remainder of the 2025 regular season as a way to evaluate the roster and see who should be part of their core moving forward.
There are a few locks in that regard, as certain players have cemented their standing as foundational pieces. Left fielder James Wood and shortstop CJ Abrams are surefire building blocks. The team is hoping right fielder Dylan Crews and third baseman Brady House can provide enough evidence to be part of the group as well.
One player who is going to be squarely on the chopping block is second baseman Luis Garcia Jr. Coming off a breakout 2024 campaign, it looked like he had solidified himself as the team’s go-to player at the keystone. He earned it with questions surrounding how much longer he would be the starter, going back to 2022 and 2023.
Things were figured out at the plate with a 114 OPS+, putting up career numbers across the board. His performance with the bat more than made up for any shortcomings he had defensively. But his strides with the glove were incredibly encouraging, moving in the right direction.
Luis Garcia Jr. Regression Is Bad News for Nationals
Unfortunately for Garcia, everything has unraveled in 2025. His performance at the plate has dipped below league average with an OPS+ of 99. Entering play on Aug. 29, his on-base percentage is below .300 and his slugging percentage is heading in the wrong direction.
Given his level of performance at the plate, the Nationals can no longer justify playing him every day at second base. Especially when taking into account how poorly he has performed defensively. All of the positive momentum created in 2024 has disappeared, with Garcia being arguably the worst defender in baseball.
He has produced minus-17 Defensive Runs Saved. That is tied for the worst mark in the MLB along with center fielder Cedric Mullins of the Baltimore Orioles and New York Mets, outfielder Mickey Moniak of the Colorado Rockies and catcher Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals. It is the worst mark amongst infielders, with the next closest being Brandon Lowe of the Tampa Bay Rays with minus-15.
Best and Worst Defensive Runs Saved by Position pic.twitter.com/vzseF8tIJL
— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) August 29, 2025
At one point, his hitting justified being in Washington's lineup every day. But that is no longer the case, and the Nationals need to think long and hard about what to do with him going forward. He has been taking ground balls before games at first base, but his current hitting production doesn’t profile as a player who can stick there and play regularly.
Only 25 years old, there is still time for Garcia to figure things out with the glove. It may just not come with Washington, who cannot afford to continue trotting out a player who is such a detriment to the team’s overall success at this stage of their rebuild.
