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With Alex Rios gone, now it's time to focus on the future. One big part of that is Avisail Garcia. Since being acquired from the Detroit Tigers as part of the Jake Peavy trade, he's been biding his time on the Charlotte Knights waiting for his chance to join the Sox.
That time could start with the night game of today's doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins, as Rios' departure provides the everyday opportunity Garcia needed to make a call-up worth it.
Garcia certainly has impressed in his time at Charlotte, where he posted a .370/.469/.556 line with one home run and nine RBI. Perhaps more importantly, he showed more patience at the plate, with an equal number of walks and strikeouts (four).
In an interview with David Haugh, Garcia talks about his work on his approach.
"I need better patience," Garcia said. "In this game, you have to be consistent. It's hard to play baseball. It gets easier when you figure out how they're going to pitch you. That comes with experience."
Garcia's work on his approach has gained a fan in Knights manager Joel Skinner.
No wonder the most memorable Garcia plate appearance, in Skinner's mind, involved a bases on balls. Garcia stroked 10 hits in his first seven games as a Knight and entered Thursday hitting .556 with runners in scoring position over 40 Triple-A games with Toledo and Charlotte, but Skinner preferred to stress the time he left the bat on his shoulder. "Bases loaded and he worked the count to 3-2," Skinner recalled. "He fouled off a bunch of pitches and didn't go out of his zone and took the walk."
Garcia also was interviewed by Tommy Viola for the Knights' website earlier this week. Guess what he talked about?
Short-term patience will be required for everybody, as Garcia's flight isn't expected to arrive in time to allow him to get from O'Hare to U.S. Cellular Field for the start of tonight's game.
Beyond his debut, whenever it may be, patience will play a big part of his personal life very soon. The Garcias are expecting a baby girl in September. Let's hope that the new baby doesn't have the same effect on Garcia as Philip Humber's did.