TAMPA -- After sitting out the previous three games to reset his swing, Adolis García got his first chance to test out all the work he had done on Tuesday night. In his first at-bat since May 28, the veteran slugger came off the bench in the seventh inning to pinch-hit and laced a sharp single into right field.
That was exactly what Rangers manager Bruce Bochy and García needed. Bochy had García back in the starting lineup Wednesday night and he had another hit in the Rangers’ 5-4 loss to the Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
“I felt good,” García said. “It felt good to be back out there. That at-bat [Tuesday], it really gave me confidence coming into tonight. I was really happy to be back out there and playing right field tonight.”
García went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts. He hit a fifth-inning 110 mph rocket straight up the middle off Rays right-hander Shane Baz for a single.
“He had some good swings. You know, he smoked one ball,” Bochy said. “I thought he got some good cuts in. Ran some deep counts, saw some pitches. It was really encouraging.”
The Rangers have been searching for consistently good at-bats from García all season.
The 32-year-old two-time All-Star and 2023 ALCS MVP has struggled to string together solid at-bats in recent weeks, hitting just .155 with 25 strikeouts in the 20 games leading up to his benching over the weekend.
He's hitting .212 with seven home runs and 27 RBIs overall on a Rangers squad struggling to find offensive traction. His swing percentage on pitches outside the strike zone has ballooned, which is one area the Rangers asked him to focus on during this time.
“When you have a guy that's chasing, it could be a couple of things,” Bochy said. “It could be a lot of things going on inside his head. It can be trying to search for power. There are a lot of things it could be, but it is one of the toughest things in our game to say, ‘Don't chase.’ You got to have some discipline up there. … Hitting is tougher than it's ever been.
“But, production determines whether you're out there or not.”
The decision to bench García was part of the Rangers’ evolving approach under president of baseball operations Chris Young. He emphasized that playing time in a crowded outfield that now includes Evan Carter, Wyatt Langford, Alejandro Osuna, Sam Haggerty and García will be determined by production, not reputation.
Being benched could have been a shock for García, a player with an impressive track record who has delivered at the highest levels. But Bochy said García approached it with professionalism and determination during the adjustment period.
“I don’t think he could have reacted any more positively than he has,” Bochy said. “He knew he had to change some things. The numbers tell the story -- he needed to tweak parts of his game, especially getting away from trying to do too much and trusting his athleticism at the plate. He’s been great in the cages, working with our hitting coaches to get back to where he needs to be.”
García said that he felt the difference at the plate Wednesday night after putting in the work in the cage and with the hitting coaches. He said he felt calmer and more patient at the plate.
“I am trying to see more pitches and I feel like I did,” García said. “We’ve worked on staying in the [strike] zone, and I felt like I was seeing that tonight.”
What Bochy sees is a hitter who is more comfortable at the plate than before when he was searching for power.
“Balance, probably more than anything,” Bochy said of the immediate difference he noticed. “He looked freer and easier with the swing.”
It’s progress and some production, and Bochy was pleased with the results. Still, García will have to work for his starts. When asked if García had shown enough progress to get penciled into the next day’s lineup, Bochy did not commit to anything.
“We're going to talk about the lineup here soon. But yeah, I thought he had some good at-bats,” Bochy said. “We're going to stay behind these guys. Your pitching matchups and other things go into [lineup] decisions.
“But I thought he had some good swings tonight and we’ll see.”