Luis Garcia Jr. ready for his homecoming with Yankees

Luis Garcia Jr. walked into the home clubhouse Monday at Yankee Stadium and put on some Yankees clothes. And it meant a whole lot to the new guy with New York ties who grew up rooting for this team.

“A lot of people know I was born here in New York and spent a good chunk of my life here in New York,” Garcia said via an interpreter at his introductory news conference after being acquired from the Nationals on Sunday for four pitchers. “To be part of this team and walking in, [I felt] very fortunate.”

Garcia moved to the Dominican Republic when he was 8. Now that the Yankees have brought him back to the city, they will hope that his lefty bat can give a jolt to a lineup that has been struggling to produce runs. They had been seeking more offense before Monday’s 6 p.m.trade deadline. They could use him against righty pitchers at first or as a DH.

“Wherever they need me, I’m going to be right there,” Garcia said.

He tried to change his style of hitting this season and had already sent up a career-high 23 homers for Washington. His eyes should light up with the view of the short porch in right at the Stadium.

“It’s one of the adjustments that I made this year, to get the ball more in the air more frequently, to be able to pull it with more authority, especially on certain pitches in the zone,” Garcia said. “So it’s no secret playing here at Yankee Stadium, it’s exciting to be part of that and see what happens there.”

This was his seventh season in Washington and it was shaping up to be his best. Garcia also owned a career-high RBI total already with 76 in 104 games. He owned a slash line of .283/.313/.560 and was batting .330 with runners in scoring position.

He had done much more damage against righties, batting .295 with 20 doubles, 20 homers and a .918 OPS. Against lefties. he was batting .218 with a .627 OPS in just 55 at-bats.

Overall, though, his new approach has worked.

“I think it has been one of the keys to how this season has played out so far,” Garcia said. “Before I used to hit the ball very well, but a lot of times, it was on the ground. So I think the focus was to get the ball in the air, to keep hitting it with the same intensity but lift it up. Better results have come.”

There were a couple of players who loved the most as a kid, and that inspired his jersey number with the Nationals.

“Growing up my favorite players were Jeter and Robbie Cano,” Garcia said. “It’s why of the reasons why I [wore] 2.”

Now Garcia will wear No. 26 for his childhood dream team.