SEATTLE - The city of Los Angeles might as well just be Luis García Jr.'s second home. Last night, the Dominican connected his first homerun of the season in his favorite ballpark outside of Nationals Park, in Washington's 6-4 win over the Dodgers in a full house on Jackie Robinson Day.
In front of more than 40,000 people, García showed he wasn't afraid of the big moment and connected on a slider up thrown by pitcher Tyler Glasnow to send the ball flying at 103.9 mph towards left field, where it cleared the fence and put the Nationals up by four runs.
A powerful hit, García's three-run homer traveled a distance of 376 feet and went 96 feet up in the air. "It felt great," García said, via an interpreter. "In that moment, I was just trying to hit the ball hard somewhere, drive in those two runs and try to help the team increase the lead in that moment. He left the pitch there, and I was able to drive it. I was very excited to be able to do that in that moment."
The 23-year-old has had a solid start to 2024 batting .318 in 14 games and only going hitless in three of his games so far this season. The dinger against the Dodgers was his first of the year at a ballpark that has seen García connect a homer in three consecutive seasons including 2024.
Out of his 14 games this year, Garcia has blanked in just three of them, leads the Nationals with seven doubles this season and ranks third in the team with eight RBIs. Compared to last season, it's been like night and day for García.
In his first 14 games of 2023, the Dominican was batting .216 with 11 hits and just one double. "When I go up for the at-bats, I don't try to think too much," he said. "I feel like when I do, I get in problems. But when I don't, I feel a little more relaxed and I'm able to just concentrate on the ball and try to hit it as hard as possible."
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