The Nationals ended up sending two players to the All-Star game in Philadelphia. Those two players are CJ Abrams, who will be the NL’s starting shortstop, and James Wood. It was neat to see the moment when Blake Butera announced that those two were going to the All-Star game. However, I want to talk about two players who did not make the cut, but were arguably deserving.
They were not slam dunk All-Stars like Wood and Abrams, but you can certainly make the case that Foster Griffin and Luis Garcia Jr. were snubbed. Both have had outstanding seasons, and are a big reason why the Nats sit over .500 this deep into the season. This team was supposed to be a bottom feeder, but they are not.
We figured that Wood and Abrams were going to have big years. However, the emergence of Griffin and Garcia has helped put this team over the top. The first guy I want to talk about is Griffin, who has been an absolute revelation this season.
After coming back from Japan on a 1-year $5.5 million deal, fans were not sure what to expect out of Foster Griffin. It seemed like another instance of the Nats dumpster diving. However, it has been so much more than that with Griffin. His 7 pitch arsenal has translated seamlessly to MLB. Griffin does not throw hard, but he finds ways to outthink and outexecute hitters on the mound.
He is truly a joy to watch take the ball every fifth day. On the season, Griffin has a 2.87 ERA with 100 strikeouts in 103.1 innings. He crossed the 100 inning and 100 strikeout threshold in his last start, though Griffin said he was more proud of the inning milestone. Griffin has 12 starts of 5+ innings with 1 or fewer runs, which is tied for second in baseball with Jacob Misiorowski.
That sort of consistent excellence is All-Star caliber in my opinion. I will concede that the NL starting pitching pool was stacked this year. However, I do think Griffin deserved to go over Paul Skenes, who is having a down year by his standards. There is still a decent shot we see Griffin in the All-Star game, as you have to think he would be one of the top candidates to replace a pitcher when someone drops out.
While Griffin has been consistent all season, Luis Garcia Jr. made an insane late push to become All-Star caliber. Garcia is on one of the hottest runs in Nats history. He has a 1.394 OPS in his last 15 games with 9 homers. With CJ Abrams slumping and James Wood just getting out of a mini-slump of his own, Garcia has been carrying the Nats offense. On the season, Garcia now has 18 homers 62 RBI and an .864 OPS.
As I mentioned above, this is one of the best runs I have ever seen from a Nats hitter. It is truly up there with Kyle Schwarber’s run, the peak of Daniel Murphy and Bryce Harper’s entire 2015 season. Name an insane heater by a Nats hitter, and what Garcia is doing right now is in that tier.
The timing of Garcia’s run is a big reason why he is not an All-Star though. His numbers have been climbing at a rapid pace in recent days. However, the voting for the All-Star game was probably wrapped up a few days ago. That would not be meaningful for most players, but Garcia has like 5 homers in the last few days.
Like starting pitchers, the first base position is pretty stacked in the NL. With famous veterans like Matt Olson, Bryce Harper and Freddie Freeman all having very good seasons, it is tough for an upstart like Garcia to break through. As much as we love Lui, the average baseball fan is probably going to want to see those veterans more.
Neither of these are outrageous snubs the way James Wood not starting was. However, both had rock solid cases to make the team. Griffin being a replacement pick would not surprise me at all, but I doubt Garcia will be going unfortunately. Both should use this as fuel to motivate them in the second half.
While neither are All-Stars, Nationals fans truly appreciate what both have done this season. They have been huge reasons for this team’s turnaround. We are playing meaningful games in July for the first time in years. Luis Garcia Jr. and Foster Griffin are a big reason why we are above .500 and still in the Wild Card mix.
