NEW YORK — Once again, the Rangers have dropped struggling Adolis García in the batting order.
García, who began Thursday in a 3-for-21 skid since his last homer, was dropped to seventh. Jake Burger, who was hitting .344 with five extra base hits since his return from a demotion to Triple-A Round Rock, jumped up to the cleanup spot.
Related:It’s Second-Guessing Season for Texas Rangers after another late-game collapse
Rangers
“You’ve seen me do this before,” manager Bruce Bochy said of moving García, who began the day with a .650 OPS for the season. “It’s just an attempt to relax him, hopefully get him going again. He had been on a nice little run, but he’s in a bit of a funk right now.”
Bochy had dropped García to the seventh spot at the end of April, and it did seem to help him get on track. Before the recent slump, he’d slashed .278/.311/.444/.756 over the previous 15 games.
Over the week leading up to Thursday, García had swung at 20 of the 54 pitches he’d been thrown that were out of the strike zone. Of those pitches, he’d missed 13.
It’s been a season-long issue. García entered the day with the sixth most swings on pitches outside of the zone in the majors.
It was the only major change to the lineup against left-hander Carlos Rodón. Marcus Semien, stuck in the worst start of his career, remained in the No. 5 spot despite entering the game with a .507 OPS, the third worst among all hitters in MLB.
Twitter: @Evan_P_Grant
Mark Teixeira recalls ‘weird’ Yankees experience in 2010 ALCS facing Texas Rangers
Teixeira was a guest on DMN’s new SportsDay Rangers podcast and detailed his time with Texas.
It’s Second-Guessing Season for Texas Rangers after another late-game collapse
The Rangers suffered their third blown lead in the last week and questions are beginning to mount.
Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Click or tap here to sign up for our Rangers newsletter.