The Boston Red Sox are rolling into the trade deadline, having won 18 of their last 20 and raising their playoff odds to 58.2 percent entering play on Monday. As the Red Sox pursue upgrades to their lineup ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline, could Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow make another deal with former Red Sox assistant GM and current Washington Nationals President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni to send infielder Luis Garcia Jr. to Boston? 

Remember, the two swung a deal for left-hander Jake Bennett in the offseason.

According to Will Sammon and Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic, the Nationals are reportedly open to shopping the 26-year-old slugger, with the pair citing the Red Sox as a logical fit for the left-hander's services. Z101 Digital’s Hector Gomez added to Sammon and Nusbaum’s report, saying the Red Sox are showing “a lot of interest” in acquiring Garcia Jr. on Sunday night. 

Garcia is experiencing a major breakout at the plate in his seventh big league season, hitting .279/.312/.544/.857 with a career-high 20 home runs in 92 games. Overall, the 26-year-old sports a career line of .268/.301/.427/.728 with a weighted runs created plus (wRC+) of 97, three percent worse than league average. He's struck out 16.7 percent of the time and has walked in only 4.7 percent of plate appearances. 

But this season, the left-handed hitting infielder has been particularly good against right-handed pitching, where he’s hit .287/.322/.571/.892 in 2026. He has, however, struggled against lefties, hitting just .225/.244/.375/.619 in only 41 plate appearances. 

Defensively, Garcia has spent time at both second base and shortstop in his career, struggling at both positions. In 4,189 career innings at second base, he has posted a -29 defensive runs saved, -19 outs above average, and -15 fielding run value. While in 584.2 innings at shortstop, he has a -17 defensive runs saved, -14 outs above average, and a -15 fielding run value. Garcia has fared better at first base, posting a defensive runs saved and outs above average of one and a fielding run value of two in 563 innings at the position in 2026. 

Garcia is in his third year of arbitration, meaning he’s under team control through the 2027 season, giving an acquiring team multiple years of his services. 

With first base occupied by All-Star Willson Contreras, Garcia would likely be relegated to a designated hitter-only role in Boston. However, the Red Sox offense has struggled against right-handed pitching in 2026, hitting just .238/.307/.377/.684 with a wRC+ of 87, which ranks third-lowest in baseball. 

The calculus for Breslow and the Red Sox scouting department to make is a simple one: is Garcia’s breakout for real? If the answer to that is yes, then he is about as perfect a fit as you can find to add power to your lineup, while boosting your output against right-handed pitching. As for his struggles against southpaws? The presence of Romy Gonzalez, one of the best hitters against left-handed pitching in baseball, on the Red Sox roster makes for an easy platoon partner for Garcia. 

Meanwhile, the Red Sox will look to make it 14 straight when they open up a three-game set against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park on Monday night. Payton Tolle (5-6, 3.11 ERA) will get the start for Boston opposite Shane Baz (4-9, 4.19 ERA) for Baltimore. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. ET. 

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