Streaking: Adolis García Showing Massive Improvement for Rangers
Adolis García isn’t the only Texas Rangers hitter tearing up the baseball right now. Nathaniel Lowe is certainly on a run.
But García’s growth this year is something when combined with his 19-game hitting streak, which is currently the longest in the Majors.
As the Rangers open a series at Colorado, García is on the verge of becoming the fifth player this season to have a hit streak of at least 20 games. The others? The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Trea Turner (separate streaks of 26 and 20), St. Louis Cardinals’ Paul Goldschmidt (25), Toronto Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (22) and Colorado’s Brendan Rodgers (20).
García can join them with a hit Tuesday night.
With his home run in the fifth inning of the Rangers’ 2-1 win over Minnesota on Monday night, he is now one of 34 players in the Majors with 20 or more home runs, and the second Rangers player to do it — Corey Seager has 26. Marcus Semien is knocking on the door at 19 and Nathaniel Lowe has 18.
But this particular statistics may be the most dramatic reminder of García’s growth from last year to this year.
García earned an All-Star berth and was fourth in Rookie of the Year voting for the American League. He did so after producing a season in which he batted .243/.286/.454/.741 with 31 home runs and 90 RBI.
His overall batting numbers already look better than a year ago — .253/.300/.450/.750. His 20 home runs and 76 RBI are in the neighborhood of last year, too.
But, as The Dallas Morning News pointed out, García has batted far better after the All-Star Break this year than he did a season ago.
That’s surely a good reason to be optimistic in García’s progress this season.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard
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