Texas Rangers' Adolis García is Turning Heads and Making Early Impressions
The Texas Rangers are in rebuild mode, there is no way around that. Yet the mindset has always been to compete no matter the circumstance. Everyone from the front office, to the coaches, to the players have the mindset to go out there and do business the "Texas Way."
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One player who might embody that the most is outfielder Adolis García, who the Rangers acquired in December of 2019 from the St. Louis Cardinals. García got a taste of the big leagues with the Cardinals when he made 17 plate appearances and hit just .118 in 2018. His wild swing was always cause for concern but his power and overall skill set is what has always been intriguing and it's why Texas made a move for him.
The Rangers helped rework his swing to make it shorter and ultimately more consistent. It appeared to work as García impressed at the alternate site in what seemed like an alternate reality that was 2020 and was ultimately called up for three games last season.
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Fast forward to the 2021 season in which Ronald Guzmán has just placed on the injured list with a torn meniscus and pitcher Matt Bush has been placed on the 60-day injured list with elbow inflammation. These injuries made way for García to get the call up from the taxi squad, but it always just seemed like a matter of time until fans would see the outfielder again.
Manager Chris Woodward appears to be very high on García as he lavished praise on the talented hitter.
"This kid is as talented as anybody that I've been around," Woodward said. "He just touches the ball with his bat and the ball goes 450 feet. He's got a cannon for an arm. He's fast. He showed off a lot of those baserunning skills later in camp. I think we owe it to this kid to give him an opportunity to show what he can do, especially with all the adjustments he's made.”
Hitting coach Luis Ortiz also echoed the sentiments that Woodward shared, but went even further in comparing him to one of the most promising young players in the league.
“He has the package. If we are able to tap into that, watch out. He could be the next [Randy] Arozarena," said Ortiz.
García has not disappointed in his short stint with the team this season as he currently owns a .375/.389/.781 slash line through eight at bats. The 28-year-old almost added his first career big league home run to his list of achievements on Wednesday evening. However, after review, his hit out to right-center remained in play, and after trying to stretch it into an inside-the-park-home-run, he was called out at the plate after another challenge.
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Texas and its fans are hoping that García's hot start is more than just a blip, they hope he can turn into exactly what Woodward and Ortiz believe he can. One person who fully believes in that is García himself.
"I have to keep doing the things I’ve been working on," said García. "I have to be really aggressive and not play with any fear. I want to go out there and do whatever it takes to help the team win."
If he continues on this same path he very well could be the next diamond in the rough that the Rangers are so adept at finding.
Follow Kade Kistner on Twitter @KadeKistner
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