“It’s one of those places where it’s just interesting how the fans, you can be 15 for 15, but if you miss that 16th at-bat and now you’re 15 for 16, they start saying that you’re no good,” García said through an interpreter. “You learn to let it come in on one side and come out the other because, obviously, if you do listen to it, it’s not a good thing. So you learn to just focus, concentrate on what you’re doing and not listen to the noise.”

It was through that noise that García forged a new level of focus that has served him well this season. García has been one of Washington’s best hitters, tied for second on the team in RBI (26) and second in OPS (.727) going into Monday night’s game against the New York Mets. He has improved his range at second base after losing weight. He’s slowly becoming the player that the Nationals believed he can be.

The noise he heard wasn’t exclusive to the Dominican Winter League. During spring training, Nationals Manager Dave Martinez made it clear García’s job wasn’t secure. That noise only heightened as García made familiar mental mistakes during the early stages of camp. But García was with the Nationals on Opening Day and has only gotten better.

“I really believe his overall focus throughout the whole game has been better,” Martinez said. “These are conversations we had throughout spring training with him about what he needs to do and how I perceived things with him. He’s been on top of everything. I credit him for making changes.”

In offseasons prior, García would return to his hometown — San Francisco de Macorís — to train on a field his dad built not too far from García’s childhood home. He would play in the Dominican Winter League for a week or two.

But this offseason, García played for Gigantes del Cibao for a month and a half, believing the environment would help him grow. García admitted that, in those previous brief stints, the insults from fans would get in his head. This time, he learned to concentrate through it.

Catcher Keibert Ruiz understands the feeling. He remembers playing in the Venezuelan winter leagues earlier in his career and experiencing a cold spell at the plate. He was benched. When he came home, he joked that his friends told him he was no good.

“That’s how it is. If you don’t do the job good, especially where your family’s from,” Ruiz paused, then smiled. “You just got to do the job good. … After that year that I played winter ball was my best year in baseball. So I think [García] has a little bit more confidence.”

García said Dominican Winter League pitching was different from that in the majors. He wasn’t facing young pitchers who were prone to make mistakes. Instead, he faced veterans who knew how to attack hitters’ weaknesses.

“I didn’t see any fastballs in the Dominican,” García said before laughing.

García is still chasing more than a season ago — his weakness always has been breaking pitches below the strike zone. But he said he has learned how to work longer at-bats until he gets his pitch instead of panicking, altering his mechanics and swinging at pitches he couldn’t drive.

“I think, at times last year, we had situations where he’d get to two strikes but then it’d be more of an emergency swing,” hitting coach Darnell Coles said. “ … We’re well beyond that. He’s made an adjustment, that consistency of him being able to allow the ball to travel and make good decisions.”

García entered Monday with a .579 slugging percentage on breaking balls, the highest of his career. He credits that improvement to his newfound focus and his dad, who helped him adjust. García explained that he always has had a flat swing. That’s why, especially against breaking balls, he would hit the top of the baseball and frequently ground out.

But this offseason, García made a slight swing adjustment with his elbow so he can stay below the baseball and elevate more pitches. For his career, García has a groundball rate of 53.7 percent. This season, it’s down to 45.7 percent, closer to the MLB average.

García was a defensive liability at times a season ago but has shown improvement there, too. He previously struggled to make routine plays. García’s outs above average, which measure a player’s defensive range, in his first four MLB seasons: minus-7, minus-12, minus-13, minus-4. This season: 1.

“This game is all about focus,” García said. “If you’re lacking focus, it’s hard to be successful.”