In their second straight big-spending offseason, the Texas Rangers appeared intent on stockpiling a surplus of major-league-caliber starting pitchers. Jacob deGrom was the headliner, of course, but GM Chris Young — a former starting pitcher himself — kept going. He brought in Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney and re-signed Martin Perez, adding that group to Jon Gray to form a rotation and holding Dane Dunning and others in reserve.
As the Rangers were surely aware, a version of Garcia with even average plate discipline could be a monster, and this year, he might be turning into that monster. Thanks to a more patient approach at the plate, his on-base percentage is up another 20 points to .320 — MLB average on the nose — and his strikeout rate is down again to 23.9%. After chasing a grimace-inducing 40% of balls out of the strike zone in 2021 and 2022, Garcia has refined his eye. This season, he’s going fishing only 30.
The issue wasn’t a lack of contact; he actually makes a heartily above-average rate of contact, especially on strikes. But he was often popping the ball up or reaching deep counts and then ending at-bats on tough pitches. This season, he has made something like the opposite of Garcia’s adjustment, swinging far more often at pitches down the middle and straightening them out. Right now, that amounts to a .288 batting average and 125 OPS+, huge production for a catcher.
With the star shortstop back, Duran doesn’t have a lock on an every-day role, but Texas would probably be happy to see him keep hitting and supplant Brad Miller or Robbie Grossman, veteran hitters on the downsides of their careers. Duran has slotted in at DH twice in the past week and played two more games at shortstop with Seager easing in as DH.
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