Investigating the disappearance of Texas Rangers slugger Adolis Garcia's performance

After an incredible 2023 postseason, Texas Rangers fans believed Adolis Garcia was poised for another great season helping lead the offensive charge. But so far, that just hasn't been the case.

Garcia will always be a Rangers legend for what he did last October. From almost single-handedly knocking out the Houston Astros in Games 6 and 7 of the ALCS, to erasing all-time Rangers foe David Freese's name from the record books with his walk-off home run in Game 1 of the World Series. He was incredible and arguably had the single best postseason run of any player ever.

Naturally, most Rangers fans expected him to parlay the confidence from that experience into a strong 2024. That just hasn't happened so far. He has his lowest OPS and wRC+ off his Rangers career so far with those numbers sitting at just .672 and 85. His OBP is only .270 and his slug is down 100 points from last season at .402. His contact and power numbers have plummeted.

The process stats aren't kinder to El Bombi. His chase rate and whiff rate are some of the worst in the league at 34.5% and 32.7%. That's a flaw in his game fans are aware of, but when he hasn't hit a home run since June 2 in Miami, it becomes much more noticeable and harder to bear.

Adolis has largely been a non-threat at the plate this year, and seemingly all pitchers have to do is throw fastballs down the middle to him. His weakness this year is among the easiest targets for pitchers to game plan for. There's no way around it: he has to be able to hit fastballs in the zone to be effective.

Not only has El Bombi's offense struggled, but his Gold Glove defense has also wavered. His arm continues to be strong and runners seemingly pay more often than not for testing him, but his range is noticeably diminished and he's failed to make a few plays this season that he almost certainly would have made in the past. That is backed up by his -5 OAA this season, a stat that was +3 for him in 2023.

The inability to properly time fastballs coupled with his lack of range in the outfield seem to suggest Adolis is just a bit slow this season. That is likely why he was given a day off in the middle of the Mets series.

But still, the reason for that remains a mystery. The Rangers need Adolis to return to something similar to his 2023 form to be able to make a push this season. The team and fans alike just have to hope that he has that in him despite there being no clear answer in sight at the moment.