Avisail Garcia is the White Sox secret weapon
Aug 31, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago White Sox right fielder Avisail Garcia hits a RBI single against the Detroit Tigers during the second inning at U.S Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Maybe the most underrated player in the Chicago White Sox lineup right now and in the upcoming 2015 season is right fielder Avisail Garcia.
With all the additions made this offseason, including left fielder Melky Cabrera, Garcia will maybe make the most impact of all the White Sox outfielders in ’15.
Phil Rogers of MLB.com tweeted out the following stats of Garcia from what he’s doing right now in the Venezuelan Winter League:
White Sox's Avi Garcia hit .312 with 5 HRs, 22 RBIs and .894 OPS in 34-game stint in Venezuela. That's the guy Robin Ventura will hit 5th.
— Phil Rogers (@philgrogers) December 22, 2014
Like Rogers tweeted, a player like Garcia, with that type of numbers … he’s most likely to be batting fifth in the order. The White Sox are going to be scary at the plate in ’15, of that I have no doubt in my mind.
The Venezuelan Winter League regular season will be completed on Dec. 30 and the winners if the Dominican, Mexican, Puerto Rican and Venezuelan Winter Leagues will all play in the Caribbean Series, which begins on Feb. 2, 2015.
It looks like after playing in the final month or so of the MLB regular season after suffering the shoulder injury that cost him most of the ’14 regular season with the White Sox, Garcia is all healed up with his performance in the Venezuelan Winter League.
Besides the .312 average, the five home runs and the 22 RBIs, Garcia also has eight doubles, two triples and 66 total bases in 125 at-bats this winter. In all, Garcia has 39 hits.
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Garcia also has scored 17 runs and is averaging one strikeout per game with 34 strikeouts in 34 games. He’s also stolen four bases (caught stealing once) and has a slugging percentage of .528. Not to forget, Garcia also has a .366 on-base percentage.
This upcoming season for Garcia could be huge with the White Sox as he gets to bat behind some very good players in the new and improved batting order. Even with those improvements, if Garcia can stay on the field in ’15, he’ll be a huge part of the White Sox potential success and is a much-needed part of the order to improve as a team.
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It is safe to say the White Sox are expecting big things from Garcia in ’14. In his 46 games in the majors last season, Garcia batted .244 with seven home runs and 29 RBIs. He also walked 14 times and struck out 44 times.
If there is one part of Garcia’s game that might need some fine-tuning, it is the number of strikeouts. That improvement will most likely come with time, because even though he does have the power, he shouldn’t have to rely upon it as much in ’15 with Cabrera, Jose Abreu and Adam LaRoche in front of him in the batting order.
Garcia will be a very interesting player to watch progress in ’15, and he’s one player in the lineup who should and is even expected to provide a spark to the team this upcoming season.