Avisail Garcia will have knee surgery at the end of the season

Chicago White Sox outfielder Avisail Garcia will have knee surgery at the end of the season. Garcia talked to reporters on September 25 stating that he will have a right knee surgery on October 2. The injury bug bit Garcia hard in 2018 with a series of hamstring-related issues.

Avisail Garcia Will Have Knee Surgery

Despite getting the surgery it doesn’t appear to hurt his chances of starting the season right away in 2019. This is welcome news as the right fielder only played in 88 games in 2018 due to various injuries throughout the season.

Avi struggled throughout 2018, never really getting things going. He hit a measly .238 AVG/.278 OBP/.440 SLG. Although he did have a career-high 18 home runs this season. However, his strikeout rate did increase to 26.4%. This is also a career-high for him.

Garcia, now 27 years old, will likely get a raise on his current salary of $6.7MM before qualifying for free agency. The Sox may look into extending him on a long-term contract, but with the current stockpile of minor league talent in the outfield, this may be hazy.

Since Avisail Garcia will have knee surgery at the end of the season, coupled with his injury issues this season, this may be another factor in choosing whether to resign Garcia.

Chicago currently has $30,300,000 salary payroll on the books for 2019 and only 17,150,000 for 2020. This will make things interesting as the team would have the option to lockup Garcia long-term, but the loaded free agent pool in 2019 and 2020 could make this decision more difficult. Especially considering his poor performance in 2018 despite missing most of the season and doing well in 2017.

Featured Image From The Chicago Sun-Times

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