{"id":354033,"date":"2025-12-17T14:11:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T14:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/354033\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T14:11:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T14:11:10","slug":"why-the-phillies-are-betting-on-adolis-garcia-despite-his-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/354033\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Phillies are betting on Adolis Garc\u00eda despite his struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Adolis Garc\u00eda and Phillies leadership fielded questions from reporters on Tuesday, manager Rob Thomson got a call from hitting coach Kevin Long.<\/p>\n

Thomson did not pick up. He was on the video conference after all. There will be more conversations to come with Long and assistant hitting coach Edwar Gonzalez about Garc\u00eda, who signed a one-year, $10 million contract<\/a> with the Phillies this week, and how the club can help him regain his All-Star form.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis guy\u2019s talented,\u201d Thomson said. \u201cI mean, last year (was) a down year. But it\u2019s still a lot of production, and you\u2019ve got that really good defense. So, we\u2019re going to get to work here pretty quick, and I\u2019m sure that K-Long will be in Tampa pretty soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much of the sport is looking for right-handed-hitting outfielders, and the Phillies found their answer in Garc\u00eda, who was available after being non-tendered by the Texas Rangers last month. As long as he performs, he will be the Phillies\u2019 everyday right fielder. But with a relative bargain comes traits that Long and company will labor to fix.<\/p>\n

After a dominant 2023 in which he was named an All-Star, won ALCS MVP and hit 39 homers, Garc\u00eda faltered in 2024, then slashed .227\/.271\/.394 with a .665 OPS in 2025. His chase rate sat at 35.7 percent, 15th in MLB. He saw a greater rate of fastballs out of the zone (31.1 percent) than any other qualified hitter. And while swinging too much on pitches out of the zone, Garc\u00eda swung at fewer pitches in the zone than ever. Swinging more in the zone is not an instant fix, but for players such as Garc\u00eda who hit the ball hard, it can up their damage.<\/p>\n

So, there will be much to address when Long and Gonzalez visit Garc\u00eda in Tampa, Fla., where he is training this\u00a0offseason. But president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said he feels the Phillies hitting coaches excel at fostering plate discipline \u2014 just what Garc\u00eda needs. It is Long\u2019s calling card, though the slugger may present a unique challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tools are there,\u201d Dombrowski said. \u201cThe ball jumps off his bat still, so bat speed is still there. Exit velocity is very good. Those are all things that we feel encouraged about, and our scouts had good reports.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garc\u00eda\u2019s bat speed has been consistent over the past two seasons (72.0 percent in 2024, 72.1 percent in 2025), hovering around league average. But it\u2019s down from 2023, when he reached 73.6 mph, which ranked in the 71st percentile among hitters.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Adolis Garc\u00eda had 135 strikeouts and only 28 walks in 547 plate appearances last season. (Stacy Revere \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Phillies scouts liked what they saw in Garc\u00eda. The club feels his struggles had more to do with his approach than his abilities. They are betting on that in signing him. Garc\u00eda, in part, took the Phillies up on their offer because he was drawn to the franchise\u2019s competitiveness and team dynamic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to do whatever it takes \u2014 the little adjustments that I need today, that I needed to do the last couple of years,\u201d Garc\u00eda, 32, said via assistant general manager Jorge Velandia. \u201cI\u2019m ready to go with the mentality of being one of the guys on the team, that we can conquer all things and all the goals that we have together. I\u2019m just ready to go and contribute.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps the conditions in Texas last season partially fostered his struggles, as he played for an injury-hampered, offense-starved team. Entering next season, Garc\u00eda said he wants to avoid trying too hard to play the hero, instead remaining focused and working on having good at-bats.<\/p>\n

There are some unavoidable similarities between Garc\u00eda and the man he is replacing, Nick Castellanos: namely iffy plate discipline. But pitchers exploited their weaknesses in different ways, peppering Garc\u00eda with fastballs and Castellanos with nearly as many breaking balls as fastballs. Castellanos\u2019 chase rate, bat speed and average exit velocity are all below Garc\u00eda\u2019s numbers. Plus, the defense is an upgrade. Garc\u00eda had the most Defensive Runs Saved (16) of any right fielder in 2025. Castellanos, whom the Phillies plan to trade or release<\/a>, had the least (minus-11). The results at the plate have dipped for Garc\u00eda, but not his fielding.<\/p>\n

Should Garc\u00eda bounce back, he could provide some right-handed protection for the Phillies\u2019 top lefties. It could be a stretch, but Bryce Harper, who saw the smallest share of pitches in the zone of any hitter in the majors last season, is due for an improved hitter behind him.<\/p>\n

That is not what Garc\u00eda profiles as right now. All of this comes with an asterisk attached, though. The Phillies are betting they can unlock something in Garc\u00eda, who slashed .212\/.253\/.376 with a .629 OPS in the second half of last season. If there is improvement, it will come via Long and company trying to fix what might be part of Garc\u00eda\u2019s hitting DNA.<\/p>\n

There are questions and work to come. For now, Thomson is preaching:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018You have to be yourself,\u2019\u201d Thomson said he told Garc\u00eda by phone on Monday, \u201c\u2018and relax. Have fun. Be yourself. Don\u2019t try to do too much.\u2019 Because we\u2019ve got a lot of really good players around him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Eno Sarris contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Adolis Garc\u00eda and Phillies leadership fielded questions from reporters on Tuesday, manager Rob Thomson got a call…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354034,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,2365,85],"class_list":["post-354033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-philadelphia-phillies","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}