Adolis Garcia
Spring stats: 6-for-19, .632 SLG, .982 OPS, 2 HRs, 6 Ks
The Texas Rangers acquired Adolis Garcia from the St. Louis Cardinals this offseason. Garcia, a 6’1” Cuban outfielder, hit 32 home runs for the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds in 2019. His 32 bombs ranked 8th in the Pacific Coast League.
We should note that the Pacific Coast League used MLB balls, which saw a dramatic increase in power-hitting in 2019.
He debuted with the Cardinals in 2018, experiencing a 21-game stint towards the end of the season. The right-hander struggled to a .118 batting average, struck out nearly half his ABs, and went homerless.
Power is Garcia’s shtick, though he has plenty of ground to make up in other areas of his game. He’s a free-swinger and a poor contact hitter. His 491 Triple-A at-bats from a season ago resulted in 22 walks and 159 strikeouts.
To his favor, the Rangers really lacked in the right-handed pop department last season. They undoubtedly acquired Garcia to potentially combat that weakness. His power screams middle of the order bat. The next couple weeks will determine if he’ll hit in the middle of the order at Triple-A Nashville or the middle of the order with the Texas Rangers to crack his 2020 season.