One thing worth adding to this conversation is that between Garcia's speed and inside out swing, there is precedent for him being able to sustain a BABIP substantially over .300.

 

The guy who comes to my mind first with an inside out swing as a righty is Jeter, yeah it's not a perfect comparison but run with it for a moment. Jeter has over his career (12000 PA's) put up a .354 BABIP. Yeah it's not over .400 so it still has to come down, but Jeter is legendary for wearing pitchers out going the other way and we've seen some of that from Garcia so far.

 

Add every caveat you want, needs to cut down on the K's, swing at better pitches, show more power, etc., but its definitely worth remembering that guys with speed who spray the ball all over the field are tough to defend and they get a lot of balls that just drop.

 

+1

Vlad had one of the best hit tools I've ever seen. His plate coverage and ability to drive balls way out of the zone was just mind boggling. He was an incredibly fun player to watch and one of my all time favorites.

One thing worth adding to this conversation is that between Garcia's speed and inside out swing, there is precedent for him being able to sustain a BABIP substantially over .300.

 

The guy who comes to my mind first with an inside out swing as a righty is Jeter, yeah it's not a perfect comparison but run with it for a moment. Jeter has over his career (12000 PA's) put up a .354 BABIP. Yeah it's not over .400 so it still has to come down, but Jeter is legendary for wearing pitchers out going the other way and we've seen some of that from Garcia so far.

 

Add every caveat you want, needs to cut down on the K's, swing at better pitches, show more power, etc., but its definitely worth remembering that guys with speed who spray the ball all over the field are tough to defend and they get a lot of balls that just drop.

 

It is a good and valid point -- but Jeter is an inner circle Hall of Famer with like a 70 hit tool. Some of that BABIP certainly comes with good speed, but a whole lot more comes with consistently solid contact. Garcia's BABIP is currently driven more buy weak, out of the zone contact.

Colleen Kane ‏@ChiTribKane 2m

 

Avisail Garcia's wife had their first child this morning so Garcia is with his family today as Sox get ready for Twins.

"Garcia is hitting .225 since starting out .360 with the White Sox"

"Garcia is hitting .225 since starting out .360 with the White Sox"

 

Will the Sox ever have the likes of the Big Hurt again?

Will the Sox ever have the likes of the Big Hurt again?

Will anyone?

The thing is, there just aren't a lot of guys with a 5:1 K/BB that are ever highly successful. That's too little contact and too much bad pitch swinging. That's something that can and almost certainly will improve, especially from a young player, but something closer to Starling Marte's .282/.343/.443 is probably more likely with those peripherals, especially once he starts actually hitting for power. If he can be the defender and baserunner that Marte is, than a 4-5 WAR player is OK by me.

 

I sure hope A. Garcia is willing to tinker and learn how to hit. If he's another guy who swings at everything, like you said, it doesn't bode well for his career. Guys should copy Paulie in his prime. He seemed so calm at the plate. He'd take some pitches, be a professional hitter. Even Dunn at least will draw some walks. Viciedo and A. Garcia need to take some pitches. Lexi's the same way, isn't he? He never learned to be patient, thus he's going to go down in Sox lore as an average hitter.

This would be another reason to bring Big Hurt back in some instructional capacity.

Edited September 17, 201312 yr by greg775

I sure hope A. Garcia is willing to tinker and learn how to hit. If he's another guy who swings at everything, like you said, it doesn't bode well for his career. Guys should copy Paulie in his prime. He seemed so calm at the plate. He'd take some pitches, be a professional hitter. Even Dunn at least will draw some walks. Viciedo and A. Garcia need to take some pitches. Lexi's the same way, isn't he? He never learned to be patient, thus he's going to go down in Sox lore as an average hitter.

This would be another reason to bring Big Hurt back in some instructional capacity.

 

Unless you can surgically implant Frank's eyes & brain into Viciedo's head, he is not gonna help much in getting Viciedo to be a more patient hitter.

This would be another reason to bring Big Hurt back in some instructional capacity.

ARGH

"Garcia is hitting .225 since starting out .360 with the White Sox"

 

I told you guys it wasn't sustainable.

 

Not saying he can't improve, but he needs to learn to identify pitches before he's going to be an impact hitter.

ARGH

 

lol, you KNOW he edited that line in, too. He read over the post, saw nothing controversial, and had to go back and throw an oldie in.