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White Sox Grade Book: Looking back at the 2018 outfielders

By Kristen Bentley

CHICAGO, IL - AUGUST 30: Avisail Garcia #26 of the Chicago White Sox celebrates with teammates after hitting a home run in the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on August 30, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL - AUGUST 30: Avisail Garcia #26 of the Chicago White Sox celebrates with teammates after hitting a home run in the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on August 30, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /
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CLEVELAND, OH – SEPTEMBER 18: Right fielder Avisail Garcia #26 of the Chicago White Sox catches a fly ball hit by Yandy Diaz #36 of the Cleveland Indians to end the third inning at Progressive Field on September 18, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH – SEPTEMBER 18: Right fielder Avisail Garcia #26 of the Chicago White Sox catches a fly ball hit by Yandy Diaz #36 of the Cleveland Indians to end the third inning at Progressive Field on September 18, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

Even though six Sox spent time in right field, there are only three men who spent more than 20 games up against the Craft Kave. They include Avisail Garcia, Daniel Palka, and Trayce Thompson.

Defensively, all three of them performed well. Palka and Thompson had 1.000 fielding percentages. Garcia had a slightly lower fielding percentage of 9.90, but his range of 2.20 was much better than Palka’s 1.40 and Thompson’s 1.48. Garcia’s lower fielding percentage was due to two errors, but he also spent 727 innings compared to Palka’s 333.1 and Thompson’s 225.1.

When looking at innings spent in right field and players’ fielding percentages, Garcia is better than most players. He ranks 21st in innings played and of the eight players on either side of him (four above and four below), only three have better fielding percentages: Randal Grichuk (.995), Brian Anderson (.994), and Christian Yelich (1.000). And, Yelich had only 557.1 innings in right field, the rest were in center field.

More impressive is Garcia’s range factor when looking at other right fielders. When looking at right fielders with 700 or more innings, his range factor is the best. Better than Mookie Betts, Aaron Judge, and Brian Anderson.

Defensive Grades:

  • Avisail Garcia: B+
  • Daniel Palka: C-
  • Trayce Thompson: C
White Sox
DETROIT, MI – AUGUST 26: Daniel Palka #18 of the Chicago White Sox rounds the bases past shortstop Ronny Rodriguez #60 of the Detroit Tigers after hitting a two-run home run against the Detroit Tigers during the third inning at Comerica Park on August 26, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images) /

When it came to offense, the most exciting outfielder was Palka. His home run drive at the end of the season put him on par with the top rookies in the NL and AL. In fact, Palka’s 27 home runs tie him with Aaron Judge as the right fielder with the second most home runs in the AL. Mookie Betts finished the regular season with 32.

Trayce Thompson only had 121 at-bats and finished his time with the Sox with a slash of .116/.163/.215 with three home runs and nine RBI. He had 14 hits and 14 runs, nothing worth writing home about.

Garcia, like Thompson, could have had better batting stats, but his injuries repeated got in his way. He finished the season with a slash of .236/.281/.438, just slightly under Palka’s .240/.294/.484. Garcia had fewer at-bats than Palka, simply because Palka often was tagged as DH. Garcia had a slow start and a slow finish, but in the first week of July, he looked ready to go knocking in 5 home runs in 32 at-bats. Sadly, he was unable to keep up the pace.

Offensive Grades:

  • Avisail Garcia: C-
  • Daniel Palka: A-
  • Trayce Thompson: D
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