Rangers outfielder Adolis Garcia was scratched from today’s Cactus League game after reporting some discomfort in his left oblique. He’s headed for an MRI, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The team will have further updates once that imaging is performed. For now, manager Bruce Bochy has conceded that Garcia will “miss a little bit of time,” though he added that the team is hopeful it won’t be too lengthy an absence. Fellow outfielder Wyatt Langford sustained an oblique injury of his own 11 days ago and has yet to appear in a spring game. The Rangers haven’t yet ruled out Opening Day for either player.
Garcia, who just turned 32 over the weekend, enters the 2025 season in search of a rebound at the plate. He played a vital heart-of-the-order role for the Rangers in their 2023 World Series run, slashing .245/.328/.508 with 39 homers during that eventual championship-winning season for Texas.
The 2024 season brought a downturn in virtually every category of note. Garcia hit .224/.284/.400 with 25 homers. His strikeout rate remained nearly identical (27.7% in 2023, 27.8% in 2024), but his walk rate fell by more than three percentage points and he saw notable declines in exit velocity, hard-hit rate and barrel rate. Garcia also hit fewer fly-balls and saw a greater percentage of his fly-balls (12%, compared to 7.2% in ’23) result in harmless infield flies; he popped out to the infield an ugly 21 times on the year. Garcia also chased off the plate more and saw his contact rate on pitches within the zone dip. He was placing himself in pitchers’ counts far too often.
Most confounding, perhaps, was Garcia’s struggle to hit fastballs. While he batted only .197 against four-seamers in that terrific 2023 season, he often did maximum damage when making contact. Garcia pounded 16 big flies off four-seamers in 2023 but went deep on only five four-seamers in 2024. He hit .197/.276/.490 on plate appearances ending with a four-seamer in ’23; that line fell to .184/.251/.310 in 2024.
Garcia is in line to again serve as the Rangers’ everyday right fielder, though a strain of any note could impact his readiness for the season. Oblique strains can often take upwards of a month to rehab, and the Rangers’ season starts in just over three weeks.
With Langford also ailing, there’s some murkiness about how Texas might line up in the outfield on March 27. Evan Carter and Leody Taveras are both healthy. Utilitymen Josh Smith and Ezequiel Duran have experience in the outfield. Designated hitter Joc Pederson could feasibly play left field in the short term, though he was exclusively a DH in Arizona last year (and has also been working out at first base this spring). Other options in camp include prospect Dustin Harris and veteran Kevin Pillar, who signed a minor league deal with a non-roster invitation last month.
On the back of that sensational 2023 season, Garcia signed a two-year, $14MM deal covering his first two arbitration seasons. He’s being paid $7MM this year and is under club control through the 2026 campaign. He’ll be arbitration-eligible for the final time next winter.
This is truly a stinky pile of trash, and I would know, I’ve been sniffing trash for 30 years. Garcia has been hiding his age and is 37 years old. This is unfortunate news.
“37 years old”..It’s certainly a good thing we have “Inspector” Jimmy on the case. Clearly, those MLB age Inspectors haven’t been doing their jobs.
And yet, there’s at least a 50% chance Jimmy is right. It would hardly be the first time.
“And yet, there’s at least a 50% chance Jimmy is right.”
Source: trust me, bro. Until ‘Jimmy’ provides a shred of evidence, there’s no reason to think he has any idea what he’s talking about, much less ‘at least a 50% chance’ he’s right. Some people will believe anything without questioning.
To source: Why are you listening someone who wearing a trashbag for coat?
@Jimmy Garbagebag
Jimmy, this is the funniest post I’ve read today, the thing I will say about Adolis is,this is his year to show Texas he’s worth signing, if he has a crap 2nd year in a row I wouldn’t expect us to offer arbitration or a new contract, would Texas go after Vlad jr,??? Or change direction, I believe they would. Especially with having their own Rangers sports Network now and revenue return. We will see.
Oof. That hurts for the Rangers.
When an extreme free swinger tries to hold up and check their swing , sometimes it hurts obliquely.
I’m sure there’s a shot he can take for that.
Ah! Spring training, Another one bites the dust.
From the headline, I wasn’t sure if this was an injury to his oblique muscle or if it was an uneven discomfort.
Uneven discomfort from being encouraged to take more pitches.
Sebastian one step closer?
Where will he play? The middle infield is stacked, and he can’t play the outfield.
Oof, too much ‘apple juice’ for big boy I guess.