RADIO
Leury Garcia 2020 Outlook: A Desperation Plugger For SBs And Runs
5 years agoPrior to last season, Leury Garcia seemed to be capable of providing a good amount of stolen base production with maybe an added element of some pop if he found his way into the lineup more frequently. He hit nine home runs in 87 games in 2017 and stole a dozen bases in 82 games in 2018. Garcia’s at-bats leaped from 258 to 577in 2019 as he played all over the diamond for the needy White Sox. Unfortunately, his numbers did not increase very much, as his 15 stolen bases were just three more than the year before. Garcia’s Sprint Speed of 28.5 is certainly respectable, but the xBA of .247 appears to be another indicator to avoid him if you can. His home run output doubled, but that only meant he went from four to eight HRs. The RBI increased to 40 from 32. Garcia fashioned a sorry xWOBA of .274 last year. The one category where he truly made a difference was in runs scored, as he zoomed from 23 to 93. Garcia will open the season as the second baseman until top prospect Nick Madrigal is ready for the bigs. He should then continue to serve as a super utility type for the White Sox, but only as a desperation source of speed and runs scored for roto and fantasy purposes. His ADP of 501.91 indicates that most owners don't want anything to do with him in drafts and may only add him if times get tough in mixed formats. He’ll supply two-category production in AL-only formats.
