How good has Adolis Garcia been for Texas Rangers? A look at where his numbers rank.
The Adolis Garcia Show hit the road Tuesday night, making an encore appearance at Angel Stadium as the Texas Rangers faced the Mike Trout-less Los Angeles Angels.
Trout, the world’s best baseball player, is out another seven weeks because of a Grade 2 calf strain. His teammate, Shohei Ohtani, is making quite the push that he is the world’s best.
Rangers manager Chris Woodward, though, already named Garcia as the best hitter on the planet, so something’s going to have to give.
Woodward, of course, was still riding the high of Garcia’s three-run walk-off homer Friday when he elevated Garcia to the top of the podium. But considering what he’s done this month and when he’s done it, Garcia has given some credence to Woodward’s declaration.
In the last series alone he homered three times and drove in eight runs. One homer won a game in the 10th inning, another tied a game, and he won the series finale with an RBI single in the 10th.
Garcia entered Tuesday with an MLB-leading nine homers in May, was tied for the May lead in RBIs (24), and was slashing .329/.367/.671.
Since making his 2021 debut April 13, Garcia leads baseball in home runs and RBIs.
Those stats, 14 home runs and 37 RBIs, came in 39 games.
Not bad for a guy who didn’t make the Opening Day roster.
“This guy’s been at the head of the table saying, ‘Hey, whatever I need to do to be successful, I’ll do it,’” Woodward said. “His success is showing. You see the consistency in the at-bats. There’s so much work done behind the scenes that it looks like he’s just out there swinging and having a good time, but there’s a lot of work that goes in prior to games.”
Here’s what that work has produced.
Garcia in the clutch
Garcia has three go-ahead home runs this season ... in the 10th inning. That’s the most in baseball.
His first career home run was an opposite-field two-run shot at Tampa Bay in the 10th inning that helped the Rangers take three of four games from the defending American League champion.
He followed that a week later with a go-ahead blast against the Angels.
And don’t forget about what he’s done defensively late in games. Garcia has thrown out runners at home to prevent the go-ahead run from scoring (vs. Baltimore) and the tying run from scoring (vs. Seattle) in the ninth inning or later.
And the winner Sunday? Well, the Rangers almost expect it now.
“I was getting ready to score,” said second baseman Nick Solak, who was at third base. “I had a good idea he was going to win the game for us.”
Garcia among the leaders
Garcia’s exploits since April 13 compared to the rest of baseball have already been covered. Those same numbers stack up very nicely with the league leaders who have been playing since April 1.
His 14 homers were tied for second in baseball with Ohtani, one behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Ronald Acuna Jr. Garcia’s 38 RBIs were tied for fourth in baseball, third in the American League, and his 3.97 at-bat-to-RBI ratio led MLB.
His AB/home run ratio (10.79) was second in baseball to Acuna and first in the AL.
“He’s able to make adjustments in game, he knows what he wants to do with every at-bat, and, obviously, he’s not scared of the moment,” Woodward said.
His homers and RBIs also lead all MLB rookies.
Garcia in Rangers history
The Rangers have had no shortage of power hitters over the years, and Garcia’s performance over 38 games and this month put him in the same categories with the legendary sluggers.
With nine May homers, he is only the third rookie in Rangers history with at least nine home runs in a calendar month, joining Dave Hostetler (10 in June 1982) and Pete Incaviglia (9 in September 1986).
With 14 homers in his first 38 games this season, Garcia became the fourth player (fifth instance) in club history to reach that plateau. The others: Josh Hamilton (18 in 2012), Ivan Rodriguez (16 in 2000) and Juan Gonzalez (14 in 1993 and 1995).
After failing to homer in his first 11 games this season at Globe Life Field, Garcia has five homers in the past nine home games. He has six career homers at Globe Life Field, which is tied for third in ballpark history (Corey Seager, Dodgers, 8).
