White Sox: Avisail Garcia hitting home runs at ridiculous pace

The White Sox right fielder Avisail Garcia has hit nine home runs in the 2018 season.

Garcia ranks sixth on the list of White Sox home-run leaders. Matt Davidson leads that list with 14 long balls. But, his current streak is worth noting.

Nine home runs doesn’t seem like much in this day and age. But, Garcia, who hit a career-high 18 in 2017, has hit the last eight of them in a surprisingly fast amount of time.

All but one since return from the DL

Garcia spent all of May and most of June on the disabled list. He played in 18 games in April. During those 18 games, he hit one home run on April 3 against the Toronto Blue Jays. He hit it off of J.A. Happ in the fifth inning. It was a solo shot, deep to left-center field. After that, it was crickets for Garcia and the long ball.

He came off of the disabled list near the end of June. His first plate appearance was on June 22 against the Oakland A’s. Garcia’s return to the diamond wasn’t anything notable. He went 1-4 and struck out twice. It took a few games before Garcia got back into the swing of things and since Jun 26, he hasn’t slowed down.

In the last 12 games, Garcia has hit a home run in half of them. He actually hit two of them on July 3 in the 12-inning win against the Cincinnati Reds. In those 12 games, the Sox have only won four of them, but Garcia’s power at the plate has made the games worth watching. He hasn’t gone more than two games without a home run and the streak continued into Saturday’s game against the Astros. He has a home run off of Brad Peacock and another off of Ken Giles.

Comparing to home run leaders

If Garcia continues on this pace (which is, of course, highly unlikely), he is on pace to hit 28 home runs. Keep in mind that he missed 54 games being on the DL. For comparison, J.D. Martinez is leading the MLB with 27 home runs and he’s played in 84 games. If Garcia is healthy and plays in all of the remaining games, he could have 28 home runs in 107 games. That’s not bad.

It’s one home run in every 3.8 games.

If Martinez continues on his pace without missing any remaining games this season, he’s on pace for over 70 home runs. With a pace of one every 3.1 games. For even more comparison, let’s look at Giancarlo Stanton and his numbers from 2017. By his 84th game, he had 24 home runs. He finished the 2017 season with 59.

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Sox fans would love to see Garcia continue on this pace (especially if he stays a White Sox for the long haul). This streak is still in its infancy and only time will tell where he goes with it. Enjoy it while it lasts, Sox fans!

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