Equipped with new swing, Adolis looks to turn back clock to '23

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Quiet swing, loud numbers.

Adolis García has a vision.

¡°Fifty home runs and 100 RBIs,¡± Garc¨ªa quipped, predicting the effects that a healthier right knee and a swing change could have on his game this season.

And stolen bases?

¡°Maybe 30, 40,¡± Garc¨ªa said. ¡°You never know.¡±

Garc¨ªa met with the media for the first time this spring on Wednesday, with a smile and a determination that was hard to miss.

One of the ringleaders of the Rangers¡¯ run to the 2023 World Series, Garc¨ªa is working to regain his form from that special season after a year that most in Major League Baseball would welcome -- 25 homers, 85 RBIs and 11 stolen bases -- but one that did not meet his exacting standards.

Most evident this spring is the swing adjustment that Garc¨ªa has debuted. He is working to remove an early loop at the top of his swing and, generally, tighten things up.

¡°Quieter,¡± manager Bruce Bochy said when asked to describe the new swing. ¡°Not a lot of movement. Not a lot of length -- with his stride or with the swing itself. Staying behind the ball is being quieter. Corey [Seager], for example, he¡¯s a quiet hitter. He is pretty direct to the ball.

¡°[Garc¨ªa] is shorter with everything. Just more direct to the ball. He¡¯s not trying to lift it so much. That¡¯s what I¡¯ve noticed in the early part of spring. He¡¯s so strong, he doesn¡¯t have to get long [and] try to hit home runs. I¡¯m sure he wants to hit those home runs -- that¡¯s who he is -- but it¡¯s all about hitting it hard. If he hits it hard, it¡¯s going to go out.¡±

With free agency looming as Garc¨ªa enters the final season of a two-year, $14 million contract, the more direct approach also is a way to improve his career-low batting average (.224) and OPS (.684) from a year ago.

Garc¨ªa, who turns 32 on March 2, is aiming to go through a full spring for the first time in two years, another positive development. Injuries that occurred late in 2023 not only forced him to miss games early last spring, but bothered him throughout the year -- though it's something he never used as an excuse.

¡°Watching him run the bases, you can see a different spring in his legs,¡± Bochy said. ¡°The knee has bothered him at times, even in 2023, but not to the point where it was in '24. He¡¯s worked hard on building that up. He says he doesn¡¯t feel anything now, and we want to make sure we keep it that way by taking care of him, too.

¡°When he's healthy, he plays with his hair on fire. You can see a difference, just the way he was moving around, because of the knee.¡±

Garc¨ªa knows loud numbers. He has averaged 31 homers in his four full seasons with the Rangers, and it is the 2023 campaign that stands out. An All-Star that season, Garc¨ªa set career highs with 39 homers, 107 RBIs, 4.2 WAR and an .836 OPS and 127 OPS+. He did it all while earning his first Gold Glove Award.

His postseason numbers were even more impressive -- eight homers, 22 RBIs and an 1.108 OPS in 15 games. He homered in the final four games of the Rangers¡¯ seven-game American League Championship Series victory over the Astros, then ran his streak to five in the first game of the World Series against the D-backs.

Bochy said Garc¨ªa was ¡°one of the guys the team fed off,¡± and a similar season could have a positive impact on the rest of the offense, which includes staples Seager and Marcus Semien, second-year man Wyatt Langford and newcomers Jake Burger and Joc Pederson.

¡°[Garc¨ªa] has a knack for coming through in the big moment,¡± Bochy said. ¡°He wants to be in that moment. He was humbled last year. Defensively, not just offensively -- his whole game. It just goes to show you how difficult this game can be.

¡°Sometimes, you have to get humbled, and I think he did last year, especially after what he did to help win a World Series. From what I¡¯ve seen this spring, he looks so much different. It is really evident he worked so hard this winter to get back to being the player he was the year before.¡±

Garc¨ªa said he geared his offseason conditioning regimen toward playing 162 games ... and beyond.

¡°Very content about the group we have here in camp,¡± Garc¨ªa said through an interpreter. ¡°Everybody is healthy, we look good and we are looking forward to the season.¡±