Adolis Garcia has the talent, but Texas Rangers aren’t sure if he’ll be a good player

The past four Texas Rangers victories, including the 6-4 win late Monday over the Los Angeles Angels, have had one thing in common:

Adolis Garcia has done something impressive.

He’s done it with his bat or with his defense, and on Monday he used both to help the Rangers build a 6-0 lead.

His home run in the third inning provided the game’s first run, and his leaping catch at the center-field wall robbed Shohei Ohtani of at least a double, maybe a home run, and helped Kohei Arihara toss 5 2/3 scoreless innings.

The Rangers say Garcia is a five-tool talent. He has arguably been their best player the past week. He has brought energy to a team that needed a jolt after losing four straight games from April 9-12.

Yet ...

Garcia is a 28-year-old rookie.

He went unclaimed on waivers in February.

He didn’t make the Opening Day roster. Yeah, there was a numbers crunch with the 40-man roster and non-roster invitees, but the Rangers would have found a spot for Garcia if they thought he was a budding star.

After one week, they aren’t sure how good he might become.

“I don’t know,” manager Chris Woodward said Monday night. “Hopefully you continue to see what you saw today. The biggest thing for me is just being consistent. We talk about that to our offensive guys, and, honestly, all of our players. Consistency is the hardest part of this game. I think it’s yet to be seen if he can be consistent. I think that speaks for a lot of our guys.”

Woodward said that he went back to look at some of Garcia’s at-bats in spring training, when he started to play his way into consideration for a roster spot or early promotion. Woodward saw quality at-bats and the ability to lay off pitches out of the zone, and he’s seeing that more and more the past few games.

The power is there, as Garcia rivals Gallo as the strongest players Woodward has been around.

And then there’s the energy and unbridled joy with which Garcia is playing. He showed some emotion on the field after catching a ball Ohtani thought he had hit out.

“I’m proud of him,” Woodward said. “He’s doing his thing. I feel like his at-bats are getting better and better. He brings a ton of energy. He hit a homer and maybe robbed a homer. It’s cool. He’s running down balls in center field like he’s play there his whole life. He’s a special player and brings a lot to the table.”

The Rangers are big believers in the late-bloomer theory. They saw it with Nelson Cruz in 2008 after he went unclaimed at the end of spring training. They were hoping to see it this season from Ronald Guzman, whose knee injury April 12 at Tampa Bay opened a roster spot for Garcia.

Garcia said he’s aware of what has been presented to him. This marks the best opportunity he has had to prove himself in the major leagues.

“I’m content to get to play here in the big leagues,” Garcia said April 14. In order to find success, he said he needs to continue “doing all the things I’ve been working on and be aggressive, to not play with any fear, and to do whatever it takes to help the team win.”

Later that night he collected his first career triple, twice thinking he had hit his first career home run. He took care of that the next night with a two-run shot in extra innings to clinch a series win over the Rays.

He was quieted at the plate over the weekend at Globe Life Field against the Baltimore Orioles, but so was just about every Rangers hitter, as Texas scored four runs in three games.

Garcia, though, cut down a run Sunday in the 10th inning by throwing out a runner at home on a single to right field. The Rangers won 1-0 on Nate Lowe’s bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 10th.

Garcia has shown all his tools in the past week, but it’s just one week. The Rangers are curious to see what happens going forward.

“I don’t know how good he could be, to be honest with you,” Woodward said. “It’s up to him, but he’s going to get the opportunity to be out there right now because he’s earned it.”