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CHICAGO – Luis Garcia Jr. has an offensive profile that could provide a lift to a lagging Yankees’ lineup.
Even if he’s not an ideal fit defensively, and not a right-handed hitter.
On Sunday, the Yankees swapped reliever Yovanny Cruz to the Washington Nationals in a package for the lefty-hitting Garcia, a trade first reported by the New York Post’s Joel Sherman.
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale confirmed the deal, which occurred toward the end of the Yankees’ 2-1 win against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Cruz was saying his goodbyes in the Yanks clubhouse. Right-handers Jake Bird, Jack Cebert and Ben Grable were also headed to the Nationals, as first reported by MLB.com's Mark Feinsand.
"I know he's a great hitter,'' Jose Caballero said of Garcia, after Caballero's two-run homer was the difference in Sunday's game.
Garcia, 26, currently leads the NL with a .560 slugging percentage. In 104 games, Garcia has 23 home runs, 76 RBI and an .873 OPS.
"He rakes,'' said Yanks manager Aaron Boone, speaking generally about Garcia, since the trade had not yet been made official.
But Garcia has mostly done his damage against right-handed pitching (.918 OPS) this year, as opposed to lefties (.627).
Eligible for free agency after the 2027 season, Garcia is earning $6.88 million this year.
Garcia has been a first baseman and occasional DH this season. He’s graded poorly as a second baseman, the position he’s played mostly since breaking in with the 2020 Nats.
Positionally, it’s a curious situation, with lefty-hitting first baseman/DH Ben Rice splitting time at first with righty-hitting Paul Goldschmidt, who stands to lose playing time in this scenario.
Full-time DH Giancarlo Stanton (calf strain) hasn’t been in the Yanks’ lineup since late April. He’s due to participate in live batting practice early this week, but Stanton’s timetable for a return to big-league play is not defined.
Meanwhile, Yankees slugging captain Aaron Judge (rib fracture) has yet to be re-imaged since July 15, to determine when he might resume baseball activity.
The 6-foot-1, 216-pound Garcia is the son of former MLB infielder Luis Garcia, who played eight big-league games with the 1999 Detroit Tigers.
Garcia was born in New York but grew up in the Dominican Republic and was signed as an international free agent by the Nats in 2016.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Yankees add lefty-hitting Luis Garcia Jr. in trade with Nationals
Continue reading...
Even if he’s not an ideal fit defensively, and not a right-handed hitter.
On Sunday, the Yankees swapped reliever Yovanny Cruz to the Washington Nationals in a package for the lefty-hitting Garcia, a trade first reported by the New York Post’s Joel Sherman.
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale confirmed the deal, which occurred toward the end of the Yankees’ 2-1 win against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Cruz was saying his goodbyes in the Yanks clubhouse. Right-handers Jake Bird, Jack Cebert and Ben Grable were also headed to the Nationals, as first reported by MLB.com's Mark Feinsand.
"I know he's a great hitter,'' Jose Caballero said of Garcia, after Caballero's two-run homer was the difference in Sunday's game.
Garcia, 26, currently leads the NL with a .560 slugging percentage. In 104 games, Garcia has 23 home runs, 76 RBI and an .873 OPS.
"He rakes,'' said Yanks manager Aaron Boone, speaking generally about Garcia, since the trade had not yet been made official.
But Garcia has mostly done his damage against right-handed pitching (.918 OPS) this year, as opposed to lefties (.627).
Eligible for free agency after the 2027 season, Garcia is earning $6.88 million this year.
Garcia has been a first baseman and occasional DH this season. He’s graded poorly as a second baseman, the position he’s played mostly since breaking in with the 2020 Nats.
Positionally, it’s a curious situation, with lefty-hitting first baseman/DH Ben Rice splitting time at first with righty-hitting Paul Goldschmidt, who stands to lose playing time in this scenario.
Full-time DH Giancarlo Stanton (calf strain) hasn’t been in the Yanks’ lineup since late April. He’s due to participate in live batting practice early this week, but Stanton’s timetable for a return to big-league play is not defined.
Meanwhile, Yankees slugging captain Aaron Judge (rib fracture) has yet to be re-imaged since July 15, to determine when he might resume baseball activity.
The 6-foot-1, 216-pound Garcia is the son of former MLB infielder Luis Garcia, who played eight big-league games with the 1999 Detroit Tigers.
Garcia was born in New York but grew up in the Dominican Republic and was signed as an international free agent by the Nats in 2016.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Yankees add lefty-hitting Luis Garcia Jr. in trade with Nationals
Continue reading...
