Category Archives: Nationals

Luis Garcia Offers a Glimpse at Nationals’ Future

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One of the many terrific events that occur during All-Star Game week is the Futures Game, an annual exhibition consisting of the top prospects in baseball. The Futures Game began in 1999 and the rosters consist of a team of prospects from the United States against a team of players from other countries. Major League Baseball, MLB.com and Baseball America decide the teams and the Nationals will be represented by infielders Carter Kieboom and Luis Garcia on Sunday.

I wrote about Kieboom a few weeks ago in this space. His breakout season has continued since his promotion to Double-A Harrisburg, batting .338/.395/.486 in his first 18 games.

The lesser known of this dynamic duo, high Single-A Potomac shortstop Garcia, is having a breakout season himself. Washington signed Garcia as an international free agent in July 2016 for a reported $1.3 million bonus. One of the youngest, if not the youngest, player in the Futures Game, Garcia just turned 18 and began the season at low Single-A Hagerstown, hitting .297/.335/.402 in 78 games before forcing a promotion to Potomac earlier this month.

The son of a former major league player also named Luis Garcia, this Luis Garcia is a left-handed hitter who has seen time at shortstop, second base and third base this season. In the field he profiles best as a shortstop due to his excellent speed and solid arm, but could also be a quality defender at either second or third base. He projects as average defensively, but much like Steph Curry, offense is where Garcia makes his name.
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Blessed with incredible hand-to-eye coordination and a preternatural knack for putting the barrel on the baseball, Garcia utilizes the whole field and peppers the gaps with line drives. He shows some power in batting practice, but like most teens, needs to gain strength as he matures. Garcia makes consistent, hard contact, leading scouts to believe he will hit more home runs in the future. Perhaps most impressive is his two-strike approach, where he widens his stance and chokes up on the bat in a deliberate effort to make contact.

Garcia has a ceiling of a .280-.300 hitter who hits 10-15 home runs per season. If he stays at shortstop, his offensive potential could make him a borderline All-Star type of player. As either a second or third baseman, he would likely fit better as a league-average contributor. He is unlikely to see more than one or two at-bats Sunday, but Garcia is a top five prospect in the Nationals farm system and presently one of the best pure hitters in the low minors. Seats are limited, so climb aboard the Garcia hype train before it sells out.

* If you cannot make it to the Futures Game, agent Joshua Kusnick and I are hosting a free live event Sunday beginning at 5 p.m. at Cleveland Park Bar and Grill. There will be food and drink specials plus a charity auction to benefit The Shepherd Foundation. Please join us for some baseball talk and to help a great cause.

*Originally Published at MASNSports.com on July 14th, 2018*

Prospect Spotlight – Cole Freeman

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Cole Freeman    2B     Hagerstown Suns

Evaluated:  9x in 2018, Most Recently 7/6

DOB: 9/27/94          Height/Weight:  5’9”/175              Bats/Throws: Right & Right

Hit (40)                 Power (30)           Speed (60)           Arm (45)               Defense (45)

Cole Freeman was selected by Washington in the 4th Round of the 2017 MLB Draft from LSU and signed for a reported below-slot $150,000 bonus.  The almost 24-year-old is listed at 5’9” 175lbs and has an athletic frame with projection remaining in his upper-body.  Freeman possesses easy plus speed and perhaps “65” underway.  He plays the game hard, with consistent hustle and has a high “Baseball IQ“.
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Defensively Freeman has played almost exclusively at second base for Hagerstown, where his smallish stature and fringe-average arm profile best.  His outstanding speed and agility provides him excellent range, but his footwork can occasionally get lethargic.  Also, his hands can get stiff when moving laterally.  Freeman has an accurate arm and shows no fear turning the double play.  He profiles as a fringe-average defender at second base and his athleticism could allow him the versatility to also competently play both corner infield and outfield positions.

Offensively the right-handed hitting Freeman shows natural quickness in his hands and wrists, allowing him to whip the barrel through the zone.  He shows a natural ability to make hard contact and consistently puts the barrel on the ball.  He has a good approach at the plate and looks comfortable hitting with two strikes.  That said, strangely he does not draw many walks and his numbers are surprisingly mediocre.  Freeman flashes some raw pull-side power in batting practice and is at his best spraying hitting line drives in the gaps.  I project Freeman as a potential “40” hit, “30” power hitter.

Cole Freeman is intriguing due to his pure speed, impressive athleticism and solid baseball actions, yet is a risky prospect due to his current struggles against Low-A competition.  His athletic ability could allow him some defensive flexibility in the future.  Unfortunately, his lack of an average tool besides his speed limits his upside.  Freeman has a ceiling of a versatile 25th man, with the likely outcome being a Triple-A career and a floor of a Double-A infielder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTdbDpk9PiQ

Prospect Spotlight – Luis Garcia INF Potomac Nationals

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Luis Garcia    INF      Potomac Nationals

Dates Evaluated: 9x, Most Recently 6/26

DOB: 5/16/2000    Height: 6’0”      Weight: 190lbs        Bats: Left             Throws: Right

Hit (60)     Power (40)     Speed (60)      Arm (50)    Defense (45 @ SS , 50 @ 2B or 3B)

Washington signed Luis Garcia as an international free agent in July 2016 for a reported $1.3 million bonus.  The son of former major league player also named Luis Garcia, this Luis Garcia is listed at 6’0” 190lbs, with thick legs and wiry upper-body strength.  Garcia possesses easy plus speed and could be slightly more underway, but has a stiffer lower-half and less natural agility than one might expect.  He plays hard, with a swagger and natural fluidity of the son of a former player.
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Defensively Garcia has shifted between second, shortstop and third base this season.  He possesses solid-average raw arm strength with a quick release and good accuracy, which allows his arm to play up.  He can occasionally get sloppy with his footwork.  Garcia has the raw athleticism to passably play shortstop, but does not possess the huge arm or elite athletic ability most big league shortstops have.  Garcia does not possess the massive arm of most third baseman or the lateral quickness of typical second baseman, but profiles as an average defender at either position.

Offensively the left-handed hitter has incredible hand-eye coordination and a knack for putting the barrel to the baseball.  Garcia has an advanced approach at the plate, hunting fastballs early in the count, before deploying a two-strike practice of shortening up to make contact.  He has some raw power pull-side in batting practice, but this has not yet appeared in game action.  Garcia uses the whole field and peppers the gaps with line drives.  He makes consistent hard contact, leading me to theorize he could develop more power in the future.  Garcia is an easy future “60” hitter for me, with “40” potential game power.

Luis Garcia is an excellent prospect with potential for two plus tools, two average tools and fringe-average power.  He has risk in his profile due to his age and the long-term question of where he projects defensively.  His hit tool, speed and natural baseball actions keep his risk lower than the average teenager in A-ball.  If he stays at shortstop, his offensive potential could make him a borderline all-star.  However, if he moves to either second or third base, he projects more as a league-average contributor.  Garcia has a ceiling as a .280-.300 hitter with 10-15 home runs annually and is presently a top-5 prospect in Washington’s system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG8S0lTmE8k

Hey Now, You’re An All Star… I Hope

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After years of hype and anticipation, the 2018 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Washington, D.C., is only 11 days away. The fan vote concluded Thursday and on Sunday, the American and National League will announce 31 of the 32 members of the 2018 All-Star Game rosters. It would be a travesty if Trea Turner is not selected.

Somewhat lost amid this peculiar season for the Nationals has been Turner’s development as perhaps the best shortstop in the NL and one of the best in the majors. The 25-year-old Turner is batting .280/.357/.427 with 11 home runs, 51 runs scored and 22 stolen bases over 86 games played in 2018. This season Turner has made a particular effort to show more patience at the plate, notching a 10 percent walk rate this season compared to his career 7.2 percent.

Additionally, after years of baseball people knocking him defensively, he has quietly developed into an above-average defender at shortstop. He possesses outstanding range due to his superior speed and athletic ability. I fully admit his jump-throws to first base make me nervous like a teenager on a first date, but he has become proficient at this and has committed only nine errors all season.

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Finally, with 15 NL teams and only 32 total spots, how many Nationals will be selected?  Bryce Harper will probably be chosen by the fans and Max Scherzer looks poised to start the game for the NL. Fellow Nationals Sean Doolittle and Anthony Rendon have solid arguments to make the club and rookie sensation Juan Soto has already received hype as a potential option for the Final Vote for the 32nd player on the roster. Even considering Washington is the host city, it is difficult to envision the Nationals having more than three representatives.

This leaves Turner squeezed in an obvious roster crunch. And while Turner is having one of the best seasons of any National League player (sixth-best according to FanGraphs WAR), odds are he will not be selected to his first All-Star Game. This is truly unfortunate, as Turner is one of the most dynamic young players in baseball and Nationals fans deserve the chance to passionately cheer him during pregame introductions. If Turner is snubbed like Isiah Thomas from the 1992 Dream Team, I hope Nationals fans acknowledge this slight against him with an outpouring of support the rest of this season.

*Originally Published at MASNSports.com 7/6/18*