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Adolis Garcia is doing something totally different with the Phillies than with the Rangers
TL;DR
Adolis Garcia has significantly altered his hitting approach with the Philadelphia Phillies compared to his time with the Texas Rangers, notably by rarely swinging at the first pitch.
Key points
- Adolis Garcia plays for the Philadelphia Phillies.
- His hitting approach has changed significantly.
- He rarely swings at the first pitch now.
Adolis GarciaPhiladelphia PhilliesTexas Rangers
Adolis Garcia is doing something totally different with the Phillies than with the Rangers originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Adolis Garcia is a totally different hitter with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Any Texas Rangers who watched his star years in the Lone Star State would be quite surprised by this development.
Garcia is still strong and dangerous, of course. He doesn't look all that different, aside from the change in uniform.
But one part of his approach has changed drastically: Garcia is hardly ever swinging at the first pitch.
With the Rangers in 2025, he swung at the first pitch 33.2% of the time.
This season with the Phillies, it's about half -- 16.4% of the time.
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That 16.8 percentage point drop in first pitch swing percentage is the third-most dramatic in baseball: Only Spencer Torkelson (-21.4) and Xavier Edwards (-20.0) have dropped their first-pitch swing rate more.
And for Garcia, it's even more dramatic, because in 2024, he swung at 41.6% of the first pitches he saw.
Whether or not it's making a major difference is harder to say. Garcia is batting .231 so far with a .686 OPS, just about in line with each of the past two seasons.
He is both whiffing less and chasing less, so maybe his discipline has essentially forced him to focus in on a very specific first-pitch offering rather than just swinging early for the heck of it.
Q&A
How has Adolis Garcia's hitting approach changed with the Phillies?
Adolis Garcia now rarely swings at the first pitch, a notable shift from his previous style with the Texas Rangers.
What was Adolis Garcia's performance like with the Texas Rangers?
During his time with the Texas Rangers, Adolis Garcia was a standout player known for his strong hitting and aggressive approach.
Why are Texas Rangers fans surprised by Adolis Garcia's performance with the Phillies?
Texas Rangers fans are surprised because Adolis Garcia's current hitting strategy with the Phillies is drastically different from what they witnessed during his tenure with the team.
