ANAHEIM — So, what’s the play? Is there some sort of secret trick to navigating a Home Run Derby? Is it strategic time management? Pitch selection? Tempo?
Adolis García doesn’t seem to think so.
“There’s not a strategy involved for me,” García said Wednesday through interpreter Raul Cardenas. “I’m just going to go out there and try to hit the ball out of the park every time.”
Hey, it’s hard to argue with that approach. Whether it proves more fruitful than his previous attempt at the event remains to be seen, though. García — the Texas Rangers’ burly right fielder — was selected to compete in his second-straight All-Star Game Home Run Derby on Monday at Globe Life Field in Arlington.
This will be the fourth straight midsummer classic in which the Rangers will be represented at the event. García will go back-to-back, and Corey Seager (2022) and Joey Gallo (2021) competed in the two seasons prior.
García was eliminated in the first round of last year’s derby in Seattle when close friend Randy Arozarena of the Tampa Bay Rays outslugged him 24-17. García’s first-round opponent this time around is Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson, whose 27 home runs rank second in the American League.
“For him, it’s going to be an exciting time, too, in front of his fans,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said Wednesday at Angels Stadium. “I’m sure he wants to put on a good show. I’m sure he wants to put on a little better one than last year, but we’ll blame that one on [third base coach Tony] Beasley, who threw BP.”
García, as of Wednesday afternoon, had not decided who would throw to him during the revamped derby format. Each of the eight hitters will have three minutes or 40 total pitches to hit as many home runs as they can in the first two rounds of the event. Batters will be granted two minutes or 27 pitches in the final round.
Players will receive one 45-second timeout that they can use at any point outside of bonus time, which is awarded for home runs hit further than 425 feet. Bochy is in favor of the new format and believes that it’s safer for the players.
“Because I’ll tell you,” Bochy said. “It’s a workout.”
Therein lies the key to success, García believes.
“It’s tough, it’s not baseball, it’s a home run derby,” said García, whose 67 career home runs at Globe Life Field are the most all time and whose 17 home runs this season rank 13th in the American League. “Whoever gets tired first ... it’s whoever is going to last the longest.”
García and Seager are the Rangers’ co-leaders in home runs this season. García tied his fellow derby veteran with a go-ahead, opposite-field solo home run in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s 5-4 win vs. the Angeles to extend Texas’ win streak to five games.
It also snapped a 3-for-26 skid that García had been in prior. The reigning ALCS MVP has slashed just .182/.268/.336 over his past 30 games, hit just .177 since the start of May and has just a .189 batting average against fastballs. Tuesday’s win suggested an uptick: He batted three balls into play — two of which came on sinkers, and one of which came on a 101.5-mph fastball from Angels fireballer Ben Joyce — that carried an exit velocity of 99.8 mph or harder.
“I’ve been trying to make adjustments, because they’ve been pitching me really tough,” García said on Tuesday night. “I’m very thankful that I’m on it now.”
Just in time for the derby, too.
“I’m always excited to do something in front of our hometown fans,” García said. “I want to put on a really good show for our fans, and I want them to enjoy it.”
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