Washington Nationals: The organization’s best prospect at each position
By Blake Finney
Shortstop – Luis Garcia
Next up: Yasel Antuna, Jose Sanchez, Osvaldo Abreu
With Carter Kieboom being classified as a second baseman in this list, we get to put promising young infielder Luis Garcia here at shortstop. The Washington Nationals are very excited by the 18-year-old’s development so far, and he should continue that in 2019.
All Garcia has done in pro ball is hit, and hit at a high level. He’s currently got a career .299 batting average and .735 OPS and has shown an ability to steal some bases with 23 so far in his pro career. However, he appears to just be scratching the surface.
He has a very similar swing to current Nats shortstop Trea Turner and should start hitting the ball harder as he fills out his 6-foot frame. And while he doesn’t have Turner’s speed, which is hard enough for anybody, he should be able to consistently swipe 20-30 bases a season once he refines this area of his game a bit more.
As he quickly rises in stature in the organization, it’s easy to forget that he’s just 18 years old and is probablyat least two years away from having an impact at the major league level. But when he does get there, Garcia profiles as a potential leadoff hitter who peppers balls to all fields while stealing plenty of bags and playing above average defense.
Yasel Antuna was another international signee back in 2016 and had an impressive year in 2017 before taking a step back in 2018. Jose Sanchez was also in that 2016 international class and is a bit more defensively oriented player than the others. Meanwhile, Osvaldo Abreu used to be really highly regarded by the Nationals but has fallen off the radar somewhat with a few poor seasons.