Sometimes, when you scroll through social media, you find a lot of interesting posts about Chicago White Sox players Josh Harrison and Leury Garcia.
Some of it is negative while other things you see are positive in regard to both of these players. The two are often compared to one another since Harrison is a second baseman and Garcia can play second base. It sometimes makes for a good laugh.
Some fans and prognosticators feel that the Sox are shooting themselves in the foot when they replace one player with the other. It depends on how you look at it with which player is better in which situation. When you need power, you want to go with Harrison.
When you want a little bit of consistency or someone that can play different positions, you might want to go with Garcia (although you can’t laugh at Harrison when he’s playing second base as he’s not a bad fielder).
The Chicago White Sox needs to be using Josh Harrison more than Leury Garcia.
Perhaps the Sox are putting in one player over another to fit a certain situation. That’s likely the case.
However, Josh Harrison should be playing over Garcia. To get the reasoning behind “why” this should happen, we need to compare the slash lines, plate appearances, and hits of the two players.
Prior to the game against the Cleveland Guardians this Friday, Leury was slashing .205/.232/.262 and had 47 hits in 229 at-bats.
Harrison is slashing .232/.304/.367 with 48 hits in 207 plate appearances. It’s interesting to compare the two as Harrison’s slash line is better, he has one more hit than Garcia and just a few fewer plate appearances than the multi-use Garcia has. While their numbers are close, Harrison’s are better and he is more consistent at the plate.
Let’s look at a few more stats that matter. Home runs, doubles, and triples. Harrison comes into Friday night’s contest with 12 doubles, two triples, and four home runs. Garcia has seven doubles, zero triples, and two home runs. The power in this comparison lies with Harrison.
So statistically and with metrics, you will notice that Harrison is a better fit than Garcia at the plate. But what about defensively? Garcia has eight errors playing several different positions while Harrison has three. The liability is Garcia. Harrison is more of a rock in the field.
The stats don’t lie and what you see with your own two eyes matters. Harrison is better than Garcia and deserves to see the field more. The White Sox will win more games with Harrison in the lineup. That’s plain and simple.
Hopefully, White Sox management understands this and keeps Garcia in the dugout when it comes to playing second base. Leave Harrison alone, let him play, and allow him to help the White Sox win.