AKS
Adolis Garcia, OF
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Scouting report
Once upon a time, García, still rookie eligible at age 28, was a 50 FV prospect and my favorite of the many Cardinals outfielders from that era, including Randy Arozarena. Then he spent an extended period of time at the upper levels and his over-aggressive approach at the plate was exposed. Even though he hit more than 50 home runs combined in 2018 and '19, and slugged about .560 during that span, García's peripherals were so horrendous that he still managed to post batting lines below league average because he was only reaching base at a .290 clip, and everyone in the PCL was hitting for big power at that time. During that stretch, he was passed on the org depth chart by several players, including Tyler O'Neill, Arozarena, Oscar Mercado, and Lane Thomas, and fell into the "toolsy older lottery ticket" prospect bucket. The Cardinals eventually ran out of space and time and unceremoniously DFA'd Garcia, then traded him to Texas for cash. He spent 2020 at the alt site and got a three-game shot of espresso, then was foisted into the 2021 lineup and has been on a most epic heater. He already has 16 homers (he hit his 16th literally as I was typing this sentence on Wednesday), tied for the major league lead, and has come through in huge late-game moments. I do not expect it to continue because García's approach is still terrifying. He's near the bottom of the league in O-swing%, and he's in the bottom 25 of qualified hitters by Contact and Swinging Strike%. He's been beaten by velocity at the top of the zone and I think it's only a matter of time before opposing pitchers adjust to him, though García's 16th bomb was a 94 mph heater at the letters so maybe he's the one who's going to adjust. I don't want to throw water on the situation because García is a lot of fun and part of me wants to be vindicated for stuffing this guy on the top 100 a couple of years ago, but we see shooting star performances like this every so often and García has several of the approach-related traits that indicate it will end and that he'll be a streaky bench outfielder deep into his 30s.