Garcia’s impressive stretch warrants more attention

His offense, defense have improved since demotion.

With so much attention understandably focused on the Braves’ young players and prospects, the future of the rebuilding team and the many roster machinations and trade possibilities — Jim Johnson? Ian Krol? Eric O’Flaherty? — as this disappointing season churns on, it’s easy for a guy like Adonis Garcia to get overshadowed.

He warrants some attention because he’s been a solid contributor both offensively and defensively since returning from a May demotion to the minors.

Garcia, a 31-year-old Cuban in his first full season in the majors, is 17 for 42 (.405) during a 10-game hitting streak with four doubles, three homers, only two strikeouts and a .714 slugging percentage.

“The last couple of weeks I’ve felt really good at the plate, and now I’m being a little more selective, (that’s) why I’m getting results,” he said through a translator.

Braves assistant hitting coach Jose Castro said, “He’s doing a very nice job. He’s got a lot of power to the opposite field. He can hit the ball all over the place, but when he stays more center-oriented, you can see the ball’s flying.”

Since coming back from that three-week May stint at Triple-A Gwinnett, Garcia has hit .275 with 19 extrabase hits (seven home runs) and 24 RBIs, and his thirdbase defense has been much improved over the sloppy early season glove work that contributed to the decision to send him down.

The odd thing is, he was sent to Triple-A to focus on playing left field, which he did, but then was put back at third base upon returning, because that’s where the Braves had the greater need when he got back.

And since then it’s like he flipped a switch and became a competent third baseman — and sometimes far better.

“To his credit, he came to Gwinnett with a good outlook and good spirts,” said Braves interim manager Brian Snitker, who was Gwinnett’s manager at the time when Garcia was sent down.

“And he went to work, played real hard. I’ve got to hand it to him, he didn’t come down and sulk. He had a big smile on his face when he got there.

“He went out and played left field, and I brought him back up (to the majors) and we put him right at third. And he hasn’t missed a beat, really. He just accepted it, worked hard there, and he’s played very well.”

Before being sent down in early May, Garcia hit .260 with just three extra-base hits (one homer) in 28 games and had 23 strikeouts in 104 at-bats, with almost as many errors (seven) as RBIs (eight).

“(Hitting coach Kevin) Seitzer and I talked about it, how he was swinging too hard, trying to do a little too much,” Castro said. “Pitcher supplies the power with his fastball, the speed. Just need to be short and quick to it, let damage unfold. He’s been doing a really nice job.

“He went down for a little bit, but he came back, and he’s been really good at third, too. He’s been playing lights-out.”

Garcia isn’t just hitting, he’s hitting in big spots, especially in late innings of games when the Braves have a chance to win.

Half of his eight homers have come in the seventh inning or later, and in those innings in close games he’s batting .405 (17 for 42) with three doubles, two homers, nine RBIs, a .457 OBP and .619 slugging percentage. In those “close-and-late” situations he leads the team in hits, batting average, extrabase hits, RBIs, OBP and slugging percentage.

“He can take you line to line,” Castro said of how Castro hits the ball hard all over the field. “True gap power, he’s got that. He’s strong.”

Garcia said, “When I’m hitting good, I realize when I hit it the other way (opposite field). When I can hit the ball the other way I get better results, and I’ve got more pop the other way, too.”

JIM MONE / AP The Braves’ Adonis Garcia (right), getting a high-five from manager Brian Snitker after beating the Twins on Tuesday, has become a better player since being sent down to Triple-A Gwinnett (where his manager was Snitker).