Adolis García’s work ‘starting to pay off,’ and he has a four-hit game to prove it

CLEARWATER, Fla. — It’s pretty unusual to see a player with a four-hit game in spring training.

That’s because most starters only play the first five or six innings of Grapefruit or Cactus League games before being lifted for substitutions, who are typically prospects. As a result, starters typically get only about three plate appearances per game.

In a 2-0 Phillies win against the Twins on Tuesday, Adolis García collected three hits in his first three at-bats, including his first spring training home run. Due up second in the bottom of the eighth, he remained in the lineup for a fourth plate appearance.

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García deposited a single into left field and was replaced by a pinch-runner, capping a 4-for-4 day. Each of his hits was at least 102.5 mph off the bat, and he drove in both the Phillies’ runs.

“The work that they’re doing, it looks like it’s starting to pay off,” manager Rob Thomson said. “He hit the ball hard four times. The home run was really impressive, cutting it through that wind. But he’s using the field, controlling the strike zone.”

The Phillies hitting coaches have been working with García, who hit .227 with 19 home runs for the Rangers in 2025, on changing his bat angle and his setup to get a shorter route to the ball. But above all, the biggest key for him is plate discipline.

Last season, García chased 35.8% of the time. On Tuesday, he bit on only one pitch outside the zone, a slider that was just low.

“What I believe is that there’s no good swing with a bad pitch,” García said through a team interpreter. “I think that first and foremost, we’ve got to work on going after the good pitches and once we get that good pitch, I think that we can start working from there.”

Edmundo Sosa hit a 109.3 mph single and stole a base.

Justin Crawford also had a stolen base, and Alec Bohm picked up a single. He is hitting .323 this spring.

J.T. Realmuto returned to the lineup after being sidelined with illness since March 10 and hit a double.

Jesús Luzardo threw 77 pitches over five scoreless innings.

He allowed a leadoff walk to start the game but cruised after that, scattering five hits and striking out five. Luzardo generated five whiffs on his changeup, which he revamped from a circle change to a split-change over the winter.

“Still, I feel like could get even better,” Luzardo said. “The wind made some of my pitches a little funky today, but it was good. I’m glad to get five of these under my belt, get the pitch count up, and I’m feeling healthy, which is the best. And I’m looking forward to having one more to really fine-tune everything before we get ready to go.”

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Jonathan Bowlan, Tanner Banks, Kyle Backhus, and Trevor Richards each pitched a scoreless inning in relief. Richards struck out the side in order.

On the back fields, Orion Kerkering (hamstring) pitched an inning in a minor league game. He threw 10 strikes out of 16 pitches and struck out two. His fastball was between 93 and 95 mph.

Kerkering also threw two splitters, a pitch he is continuing to test out. Whether Kerkering will be ready for opening day depends on performance and how he feels, Thomson said. The plan is for him to get two more outings before the end of camp.

“It’s nasty,” Thomson said of Luzardo’s changeup. “It goes down. Lot of swing and miss. His command of it is really good. The slider was really good today.”

The Phillies head to North Port, Fla., to face the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday (1:05 p.m., PHI Audio). Andrew Painter is scheduled to start.

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Zack Wheeler (thoracic outlet decompression surgery) will throw his second live batting practice session Wednesday. … Cristopher Sánchez was back in camp Tuesday after the Dominican Republic was eliminated from the World Baseball Classic. He will make his next start on Friday.