White Sox outfielder Avisail Garcia made several mechanical adjustments at the plate this offseason. He has lowered his hands. He's standing taller in the box, and his head position was changed in hopes of getting him a longer look at the ball.
We said at the start of spring Garcia was one of the players to watch in camp -- in fact, we had him No. 1 on our list -- to see how these changes would work. All the usual caveats about spring numbers being (relatively) meaningless apply, but I'd say Garcia has given the Sox reason for optimism.
He hit his fourth home run of the spring Sunday in a 13-9 win over the San Francisco Giants. He's posted a .333/.385/.708 slash line in 51 plate appearances this spring. Nine of his 16 hits have gone for extra bases. The four home runs are tied for the team lead, and his 16 spring RBIs are tops on the team.
Can it carry over to the regular season? Garcia will continue to be one of the players to watch as the games begin for real next week in Oakland.
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