García sits again but encouraged by MRI results

SAN FRANCISCO – Luis García Jr. is out of the Nationals’ lineup for the second straight day, but the team appears to be confident his back injury won’t linger for long.

García was scratched from the lineup for Friday night’s series opener against the Giants when he experienced back tightness during batting practice. Interim manager Miguel Cairo said at the time he would also sit his starting second baseman for this afternoon’s game, given the quick turnaround to a 1:05 p.m. first pitch.

García has since undergone an MRI on his back, the results of which were encouraging.

“He went and did an MRI this morning, and everything is negative, so he’s fine,” Cairo said. “Maybe it just tightened up. We did the MRI just to make sure everything was fine, so that’s good news.”

Cairo had José Tena start in García’s place Friday night; the 24-year-old went 0-for-3 with a strikeout and grounded into a force out at the plate with the bases loaded. Veteran Paul DeJong gets the nod today and will bat third against San Francisco left-hander Carson Whisenhunt.

At a time when nearly all of the Nationals’ regulars have been struggling, García has been something of a steady presence in the heart of the lineup. His .729 OPS since the All-Star break is slightly better than his .695 mark during the first half.

“He’s a guy that can hit a fastball,” Cairo said. “Something that he needs to work on is the chase rate. He chases too much out of the strike zone. When he gets the pitcher in the strike zone … I’ve never seen someone that can hit a fastball as hard as he can. I think he’s got to work on being patient and looking for his pitch to hit.”

García may or may not be available to come off the bench if needed today. The Nationals will hope he can return to the lineup for Sunday’s series finale, with veteran right-hander Justin Verlander scheduled to pitch for San Francisco.

“He’s a guy that helps this offense produce,” Cairo said. “Hopefully he should be fine. We’re going to see how everything goes today, see how he feels. And tomorrow we’ll see.”