Maikel Garcia's weekend offers tantalizing reminder for KC Royals fans

Third baseman Maikel Garcia struggled at the top of the KC Royals lineup for months despite a powerful start to the season, quickly forgotten due to an overall lack of production. The 24-year-old faced immense pressure, setting the table for two of baseball's best hitters, leading to his demotion down the lineup. Instead of dwelling on this, Garcia seized the opportunity over the weekend and delivered great results.

KC Royals reap the rewards of Maikel Garcia's solid series.

The Venezuelan batted near the bottom of the Royals' lineup over the weekend, in the seventh or eighth position. That leadoff pressure was gone, traded instead for just trying to keep the line moving rather than getting it started. He responded with less pressure this weekend with four hits and one walk in 12 at-bats, including a double on Saturday and a crucial RBI in Sunday's comeback.

Here are all four of Garcia's hits against the White Sox this past series, including two opposite-field hits.

Garcia's best moment of the weekend was what he didn't do. He managed to avoid striking out, instead putting the ball in play 11 times. While he's not known for striking out a lot, by not swinging at difficult pitches outside the strike zone, he was able to increase his chances of making contact. As demonstrated by his infield hit on Sunday, sometimes all a batter needs to get on base is to put the ball in play.

This weekend is just the latest chapter in Garcia, hopefully turning things around at the plate. Through the 14 July games, he is slashing .273/.319/.409, with three extra-base hits and three walks to only five strikeouts. While he has sporadically batted leadoff in those 14 games, his track record shows he performs much better lower down the lineup.

Kansas City must find a solid lead-off option. Despite veteran Adam Frazier going hitless in the White Sox series, manager Matt Quatraro's search and lack of options should not push Garcia back into the leadoff spot. In my opinion, whatever mindset or different process has Garcia performing better down the lineup makes his bat more valuable than in the leadoff spot.

Garcia has the process. He has the bat-to-ball history that works for a leadoff hitter. But he just isn't primed for that spot yet. The down-and-away pitch is his weakness, but he didn't let Chicago's exploitation of that limit his production. If Garcia can provide a spark in the lower lineup, it would greatly benefit Kansas City in the long run. He might not deliver this kind of performance every series, but it's important to recognize that he's capable of doing so.

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