Ready to pull his weight now
García sheds 36 pounds in offseason
Eleventh in a 2021 Brewers position-by-position series.
Players coming into camp in the self-proclaimed best shape of their lives has been a common theme at the start of every spring, to the point it’s become a popular tongue-in-cheek hashtag – #BSOML – on Twitter.
Healthier living was no joke this offseason for Avisaíl García, however.
In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find a player in the major leagues who’s remade his body as noticeably and as drastically as the Milwaukee Brewers rightfielder.
He told reporters Friday he’s down 36 pounds since beginning his journey, leaving him with 235 pounds or so on his 6-foot-4 frame.
“I started in November. I went to a nutritionist,” said García, who, somewhat amazingly, started 42 games in center field weighing as much as 257 after Lorenzo Cain opted out in early August.
“I feel like I need to take care of my body. I lost some weight to put my body in the best position that I can to help my team win. I feel great. I have a lot of energy. I’m in a good position
right now.”
Count manager Craig Counsell among those García has impressed with his newer, more svelte figure.
"It's very visible. It looks good. He's just a very big man, as we all know," Counsell said. "It's visible, but not as ‘Oh wow, something's wrong or something's completely different,' because he's just so big.
"He's going to have to play with it to tell you how he feels. He feels great about it. That's probably the biggest thing, is he's proud of it. It's important to him. He worked hard at it. I think it's going to be a good thing for him."
García, who turns 30 on June 12, was something of a surprise addition when the Brewers signed him to a two-year, $20 million free-agent deal in December of 2019 that includes an option for 2022.
Christian Yelich played his first two years with Milwaukee in right, Cain was a fixture in center and Ryan Braun – although declining – was still in the picture. With García a prototype rightfielder, the fit didn't immediately appear on the surface.
But things – as they so often do – quickly worked themselves out.
Yelich agreed to move from right to left, where he once won a Gold Glove with Miami, to accommodate García. Then, when COVID-19 concerns led to Cain's unexpected departure five games into the season, García slid over to center, a position he'd started at only 32 times in eight previous seasons.
He did a commendable job there considering the circumstances and was credited with two defensive runs saved. García's speed, despite his size, and strong throwing arm helped mitigate his relative lack of experience at the position.
If all goes according to plan, García will see the lion's share of time in right this season in Milwaukee's normal defensive alignment.
"He's going to play some center field for us this year, as well," said Counsell. "You're still going to chase things down in right field ... that's part of the job out there. There's a little less in the corners but not significantly less.
"He is in a position that we think he can be a really good defender, and that's going to help us. I see it more like that. We're kind of putting our defense back in order. We're going to get a really good centerfielder (Cain) in there and a really good rightfielder in there." Offense was another story for García. Perhaps knocked off kilter by the pandemic (as almost everyone in the game was), physically run down by the move to center – “a little bit,” García admitted – out of sorts batting leadoff 26 times, or, more likely, a combination of the three, he finished with a .238 average, two home runs, 15 runs batted in and a .659 OPS.
It was nothing like the .282/20/72/ .796 line García put up in 125 games the previous season with the Tampa Bay Rays, and a performance he wants to put in the rear-view mirror in 2021.
“I think it was hard for everybody,” he said, when asked about Yelich's disappointing 2020. “It's no excuse. I put myself in that, too. It's not an excuse. We need to come this year and be better, be better as a team, as a group.”
To that end, García made sure his offseason was a productive one.
“When I got to my house, I knew I was going to go on a new diet. When I started my diet, I knew it was going to be a big process for me because I'm taking out what I'm not supposed to do,” he said. “I needed to lose weight and put my body in the best position I can because I can control that. I control what I eat, I control what I do. I can't control results.
“Results are going to happen. Everything that I can control, I'm going to control it because that's what I need to do.”
As Cain demonstrated last spring when he reported 12 pounds lighter – #BSOML – better food choices made the biggest difference for García.
“Right now, I'm eating without salt. I took the sugar out – candies or whatever we eat,” he said. “It's not a diet; it's more I want to have a healthy life. I want to be healthy and do everything that I can do to feel better, to move better and have a great year.
“I've never felt like this before, to be honest with you guys. I've never felt this way before. I'm around 236, 235, and I can't tell you the difference. It's amazing. I made a commitment to do that and I don't want to be big again.
“Keep it like this, because I feel great.”
Is García worried that maybe he went a little too far in the other direction, perhaps?
“No, because I've got the same muscles,” he said. “My weight went down but my muscle's gone up. You've got to see my body. It's better now ... more muscle, more energy. It's been great, man. I'm moving faster now.”
García's offseason remake also included a brainstorming session at home in the Miami area with hitting coach Andy Haines.
“Last year, I was flying too much into home plate. I was jumping too much,” García said. “We ended up in the same mindset – what we're going to do, what we're going to practice, what we're going to do in games and batting practice.
“I think we're in good shape right now. We're in the same place. It's a good thing to move on.”
García rediscovering his power stroke would be a boon for an offense that badly underachieved in 2020 but could be poised for a big 2021 if he, Yelich, Cain and Omar Narváez all bounce back to their previous forms.
“I've got to stay back (in the batter's box). Stay back, but the right way,” García said. “That's what we're doing. That's what I'm practicing right now.
“Everybody's excited. I think everybody feels like I need to show something because last year was a disappointing year for a lot of people. This year we're coming with everything, man.
“I'm telling you right now. Everybody's coming with 500% this year to show what they know, what we know to do. We're ready. Every player's ready. Everyone. I see the intensity. I see the energy.”