García takes first step in road to 50-homer season

ARLINGTON -- One down, 49 to go.

Rangers right fielder Adolis García came into the 2025 season with lofty goals for himself and for the team. His personal goals include 50 home runs and 100 RBIs, he said during Spring Training.

The mission began on Saturday, when he launched his first homer of the year, a 414-foot bomb launched deep into the left-field stands in the fourth inning of the Rangers’ 4-3 win over the Red Sox at Globe Life Field.

“Yes, 49 to go,” García said with a laugh postgame.

He finished the day with two doubles and a homer, while collecting three RBIs. All three of his hits had exit velocities of 100+ mph, marking his fifth career game with three or more 100 mph hits (last Aug. 15, 2024, vs. Minnesota).

García didn’t have any hits in the first two games of the season, but he did draw two walks in Friday night’s win.

“I was excited for the team to get the win,” García said. “We have been playing good games. I’ve been working a little bit on all my mechanics, on my swing, and I feel so good. I’m playing good, I feel healthy. I feel like I can do it all. When you’re playing good, you feel like you can do everything. We just have to keep the same mentality and keep playing every day.”

García missed about a week and a half of Cactus League games in Spring Training due to a left oblique strain, but he didn’t look fully comfortable at the plate, even when he was healthy.

Manager Bruce Bochy said after García returned to the lineup in Cactus League play that it was sort of a blessing in disguise looking back, because it allowed the right fielder to take a step back and get his swing back in order.

This is the version of García the Rangers were missing for most of 2024, from both a physical and mental standpoint. Even just from swagger and aura -- including a typical bat flip -- he looked like the best version of himself.

“We've seen it so many times here,” Bochy said. “He stepped up in a big way for us tonight. He's the guy that we can depend on. He's come through so many times. He did tonight.”

After an All-Star season in 2023, García struggled to a .224/.284/.400 slash line during the ‘24 campaign in which multiple Rangers hitters regressed.

If García is anywhere close to the 2023 version of himself, then the Rangers are in a good place.

“He's awesome,” Josh Smith said. “He would say probably last year wasn’t the year he wanted to have, but for him to come out like this, it’s great. No matter what, he's the same guy, day in, day out. He's just been so good for us. He's our guy. As he goes, we go in my opinion. If he’s doing what he did tonight, I think we’ve got a pretty good chance in every game.”

García joins catcher Jonah Heim as one of the Rangers who struggled in 2024 to come up with a big Opening Weekend. Heim had two homers in Friday’s win.

It goes without saying that the Rangers are a completely different team if both Heim and García take the steps to return to their previous forms. They both feel like they’re close to it.

“We always say that if our guys go out there and have their normal years, we should be really good,” Bochy said. “If they stay healthy and have their normal years, we'll be just fine. In Spring Training, [García] made some adjustments. He had to tweak some things a little bit to get back on track. He did that and is swinging the bat well. That’s the Doli we know.”