Texas Rangers All-Star Slugger Showing Signs of Returning to That Form

A Texas Rangers All-Star slugger looks to be regaining his power stroke from years past.

Apr 1, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Texas Rangers outfielder Adolis Garcia (53) bats against the Cincinnati Reds in the eighth inning at Great American Ball Park. / Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

One of the biggest surprises in the early going of the 2025 MLB regular season has been the performance of the Texas Rangers offense, or lack thereof.

They are currently in first place in the American League West with a 14-10 record in large part due to elite pitching performances, because according to Baseball Reference, their production more closely resembles a team that is 10-14.

It has been a struggle at the plate overall, with the Rangers producing a .222/.278/.378 slash line through 24 games. The offseason additions of first baseman Jake Burger and designated hitter Joc Pederson have not yielded the kind of results the team was expecting to this point.

Texas is going to need them and several other players to step up with Corey Seager heading to the injured list.

One of the players who looks primed to break out soon is right fielder Adolis Garcia.

In his first full season with the Rangers in 2021, he made the All-Star team and finished fourth in the AL Rookie of the Year race.

By 2023, he was one of the most feared power hitters in baseball, capping off his best regular season with a historic performance in the playoffs where he hit eight home runs with 22 RBI in 15 games and 68 plate appearances.

Unfortunately for Texas, like so many other players on the team in 2024, Garcia was unable to replicate that kind of production in what was an incredibly disappointing campaign.

His numbers plummeted, hitting 25 home runs with 85 RBI, an OPS of .684 and OPS+ of 95 after recording 39, 107, .836 and 127 in those categories during the previous campaign.

While his slash line thus far in 2025 leaves something to be desired at .217/.283/.434, there are signs that he is returning to the scary power hitter he was from 2021 through 2023.

His OPS+ is back over the league average at 109. He has already hit four home runs and six doubles through 92 plate appearances and a lot of his metrics and ratios are heading in the right direction.

“All of his notable power indicators have spiked, from his hard-hit and barrel rates to his pulled airball rate, with a reduced strikeout rate to boot. It may only be a matter of time before García erupts,” wrote Thomas Harrigan of MLB.com.

Fewer strikeouts means more opportunities to put the ball in play and do damage at the plate. His current rate of 20.7% would be a career-high by 7%.

He is hitting the ball with incredible force thus far in 2025. He has an average exit velocity of 94.5 mph and a hard-hit rate of 55.4%, both of which would be single-season career highs if they hold.

Garcia is putting the ball in the air more than he ever has previously in his career at 49.2% and has drastically cut down on his ground ball rate to 29.2%.

All of those numbers hint that a major power surge is on the horizon.

With only a .230 batting average on balls in play, there should be some positive regression coming in that regard.

Once it does, his numbers are going to take off.

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