García continues to develop on the fly while back with Nats

CINCINNATI – The Nationals were very clear about their plans for infield prospect Luis García: He is to play every day at shortstop. And he wasn’t going to come back up to the majors until the organization felt he was ready to do so at the big league level on a consistent basis.

That might have caused some frustration and confusion among fans, who watched 35-year-old Alcides Escobar, 34-year-old Dee Strange-Gordon and offseason waiver claim Lucius Fox share the reps at shortstop through the first two months of the season while García stayed at Triple-A Rochester.

In a rebuilding year, why not play one of your top prospects whose major league-ready bat can help your struggling offense?

Well, García finally got the call back to the majors ahead of Wednesday’s finale in New York when Escobar landed on the 10-day injured list ​​with a right hamstring strain and everyday reps at shortstop became available.

But it’s still a developing period for the 22-year-old, and the Nats are keeping a close watch on one of their key pieces of their future.

“Yeah, we're gonna keep an eye on him,” manager Davey Martinez said before Thursday's 8-1 series-opening loss to the Reds. “But more so, we got to remember that he's still young and he's still developing. But he started off really well in Rochester this year. So he's gonna get an opportunity to play every day. As I talked before, when he comes up, it's for him to play shortstop every day. And he's gonna get an opportunity to do that now.”

Started off really well in Rochester indeed. García’s bat alone might have been worth a call-up while the other Nationals shortstops produced very little at the plate.

García slashed .314/.368/.531 with an .899 OPS, six doubles, four triples, eight home runs and 32 RBIs in 42 games with the Red Wings. He was even named International League Player of the Week on April 18.

The offense was never the question. It was his defense. Can he play consistently strong defense at shortstop? If he couldn’t do it at Triple-A, the Nationals weren’t going to have him try to do it in the majors.

It’s only been two games so far, but of course the ball has found García plenty already. He handled himself well on Wednesday. On Thursday, he ran into a little more trouble.

He did help turn two double plays early in last night’s loss. And he made a nice sliding stop to his right, got to his feet quickly and made a strong throw that was just a bit too late to get the runner.

But he also committed his first error in the majors this season, collecting a routine grounder and throwing it wide of first baseman Josh Bell. There was another grounder that got past him when it looked like he either tried to dive for the ball and pulled up, or buckled when it got to him. Either way, it put runners on the corners, setting up the Reds’ five-run seventh inning after the Nats had cut it to 3-1 in the top of the frame.

“We'll talk to him again,” Martinez said after the game. “I talked to him in between innings about the throwing stuff. But some of the balls, he's gotta be ready. He's got to anticipate the ball being hit to him all the time. Setting his feet. And we're gonna talk to him a little bit about it, we know he struggles with diving at the balls. He likes to catch balls always on his knees. So (bench coach Tim Bogar) and (third base coach Gary DiSarcina) are going to talk to him (today) about when he has to dive, how to do it, and teach him. And his angles. We gotta talk about his angles, as well, at shortstop.

“But you know what? He's doing fine. You know, he's only been here a couple of days. So he's doing fine. He's another one that when he was going good in Triple-A, he was swinging at strikes. Now he's just expanding a little bit. But he just got here. But we'll talk to him about staying in the strike zone as well.”

While on the receiving end of most of García’s throws, Bell has been impressed by what he’s seen from the young shortstop even with the error.

“No, I like it,” Bell said. “I keep telling him: ‘Just throw it. Don't think about it. I got you over there. I'm gonna do the best I can to not let balls get past me, but just stay athletic over there.’ You know, he's up for a reason. I'm excited. Obviously the bat speaks for itself. And being as athletic and as young as he is, he's going to be a lot of fun to watch.”

As García continues to learn on the fly with the big league club, the next question is: How long will this opportunity last?

Yes, Escobar is on the IL, Strange-Gordon has played more outfield recently and the Nats picked García over Fox when they needed an infielder. But Ehire Adrianza is nearing his return after recently starting his rehab assignment while recovering from a strained left quadriceps. He actually just moved up to Rochester this week while playing all over the field, including shortstop.

Is García’s time in the majors up when Adrianza is eligible to come off the 60-day IL on Monday?

“As of right now, Luis is gonna play every day,” said Martinez. “Adrianza, his role is a super (utility) guy. So when he comes back, it'll be kind of nice maybe to give some of these other guys a day off, which they haven't had. So we'll look for him to do a lot of different things.”

There you have it, Nats fans. Your wish has come true. García is up and playing with the Nationals.

There may be some growing pains along the way, but he’s sure to show flashes of excitement for the future as well.