Chicago White Sox Avisail Garcia: 2016 Deep Sleeper

Avisail Garcia entered the league with a lot of hype due to his hulking frame and raw power. The Chicago White Sox brought him in to be a middle of the order impact bat, but he has failed to put it all together over one season. Now that his playing time is no longer in question and with a hot start this spring, could this be the year he finally delivers?

In this modern day version of baseball, we as fans have more access to information and stats than we know what to do with, especially when it comes to monitoring prospects. Which brings us to the interesting case of, Avisail Garcia.

Garcia was a highly touted 17-year-old prospect from Venezuela, who was signed as minor league free agent by the Detroit Tigers. Garcia was then brought over by the White Sox in the three team trade that saw Jake Peavy sent to Boston. Unfortunately, all the momentum that Garcia had in the minor leagues with the Tigers has not parlayed itself during his tenure with Chicago.

Just to put in perspective how highly he was thought of, he was jokingly given the moniker as “Mini-Miggy”, because of huge frame and pure power. Fantasy owners took notice of this praise as well, making Garcia a perennially late round flier with the hopes that owners would get him when he finally broke out.

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Between injuries, and blocked paths to consistent playing time in the bigs, he seemingly never had a true opportunity to show what he could bring over a full season. Last season though, he played in a career high 148 games but only posted a, .257 AVG/13 HR/59 RBI/7 SB/.675 OPS, line. He fit right in with the disappointment that the White Sox were last season, so why should fantasy owners give him another shot in 2016?

Coming into 2016, it seemed as though that Garcia was going to be given one more shot to man right field as Chicago missed out on multiple big name free agent outfielders. But, after the recent signing of Austin Jackson, Garcia’s playing time was once gain in question. However, the White Sox’s playing time shifted again today, after the surprising retirement of Adam Laroche.

With Laroche taking himself out of the picture and the White Sox not having any real offensive threats coming off the bench, Garcia will get plenty of playing time this season with the DH spot now open. Opportunity is half the battle when trying to figure out a player’s fantasy value, so a lion’s share of playing time in 2016 certainly helps.

Garcia needed to make changes to his swing and plate approach after last season’s struggles. He struck out 144 times last season, while only walking 36 times, so this is an obvious area where he can improve. Even with his horrid contact rates, when he does makes contact, it is usually with ample force. He posted a 28.8% Hard contact rate last season, and his 24.5% LD rate was a career high as well.

Fantasy owners know that even with those encouraging peripherals, he was hardly reaching his fantasy potential. When it comes to underachieving players such as Garcia, owners have to look for any tangible signs of improvement or tweaking with his swing, which could inspire us that 2016 could be his breakout year. This brings us to 2016 offseason.

This offseason Garcia tweaked his swing, lowering his hands which allowed his bat to stay longer in the zone and on a better swing path. While the sample size is only eight games, Garcia has found solid success with his new swing already this swing and scouts around baseball have begun to take notice. His spring line currently sits at, .435 AVG/2 HR/11 RBI/1.393 OPS, clearly indicating that he is in an early groove at the plate. Fantasy owners are well aware of the dangers of spring training stats, but when it comes to players changing something mechanically with their swing, these early type of results are encouraging.

The White Sox lineup is surely improved and will be better this season after under performing in 2015. This should help buoy his counting stats and hopefully with some early season success, he could work his way up the order behind Todd Frazier in the middle of the lineup. With the likes of Frazier, Jose Abreu and Adam Eaton in front of him, the RBI opportunities should consistently be there. Not to mention the offensive perks of calling, U.S. Cellular Field, as home.

Garcia may flounder again in 2016, officially allowing fantasy owners and even the White Sox, to turn the page on him. But, at the age of only 25 and entering a pivotal stage of his career, this season will be his best change at finally emerging. If he can continue to hit this spring, fantasy owners should be happy taking him as an OF5 late round flier again in 2016.

2016 Projections: .260 AVG/20 HR/70 RBI/5 SB/70 R/.700 OPS

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