White Sox: Breaking Down Avisail Garcia’s Hot Start
By Brian Draus
White Sox right fielder off to a sizzling start. What has propelled the outfielder to have better results to begin the season?
As all Chicago White Sox fans know by now, Avisail Garcia is off to a blazing hot start to the 2017 season. While this may come as a surprise to many, his overwhelming talent has been undeniable from the second he put on a Sox uniform. How well is he playing right now? Let’s break down his statistics from the first five opponents he faced.
Garcia’s most eye-popping stat is his batting average. That currently sits at .423, and leads the American League with it’s closest competitor .027 away (Chase Headly is hitting .396). This exceptional number is due to Garcia recording hits in twelve of fourteen games, not to mention double digit base knocks half the time. Garcia has failed to record any hits in only two games this season.
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Another area where Garcia is excelling is run production. He is tied for fifth in the American League with Miguel Sano and Carlos Santana (13) in RBI’s, which could actually be higher considering his .500 average with runners in scoring position. Another quality of Garcia’s is that he picked up six of those RBI’s on ways other than the home run. Speaking of the latter, he has gone deep three times in 52 at bats, putting his HR to AB ratio at 17.3 to 1.
While Garcia’s run production has been excellent, his OPS is Hall of Fame Worthy. With it currently over 1.000 (1.137), Garcia is off to start that Barry Bonds would admire. Given it is highly unlikely that his OBP will remain at .483 as the season moves along, if he continues to slug at a high rate Garcia could very well end up with an All-Star caliber OPS in 2017.
All in all, don’t expect Garcia to continue dominating at this level. It is virtually impossible over the course of a 162-game season, and when combined with slumps and nagging injuries his numbers will plummet in a big way. Pitchers will also make adjustments as the season moves along, therefore Garcia’s final totals may be good, however not worthy of an MVP award.
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Is this the beginning of Garcia’s ascent to greatness? Or just another hot streak that will quickly dissipate as the season moves along?