Avisail Garcia is getting very close to making his long-awaited return to the South Side. In fact, it could come as early as this weekend. As you probably remember, Avi was placed on the DL after suffering a right hamstring strain in the April 23rd game vs. Seattle. It was then revealed by Rick Hahn about a week later that this was a Grade 2 strain and would take several weeks to recover from. As fans, you know what’s been happening on the field with Avi’s replacements like the infamous Trayce Thompson. Luckily, the nightmare is almost over because Avi is on the way to cover up any “Trayce” of his absence.
Since beginning a rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte last Tuesday, Avi’s been making very good progress both in the field and at the plate. Just last night, he hit a whopping 434-foot bomb so you could say he’s just about ready to catch that flight to Chicago.
#WhiteSox Avisail Garcia crushes a 434 ft solo HR to L-CF to give the #CLTKnights a 2-0 lead B3.. pic.twitter.com/FlwPhlLA67
— Jonathan Lee (@followmefor3) June 20, 2018
Earlier in the week, Rick Hahn also gave the following update on Avi’s rehab:
White Sox want Avisail Garcia to play nine innings back to back in the next two games for @KnightsBaseball. He will be re-evaluated at that point, but a return this weekend sounds possible/plausible.
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) June 18, 2018
After the Knights’ off-day on Monday, Avi did in fact play a full nine innings last night. This leads me to believe he’ll play another nine tonight, and will be reevaluated tomorrow. If all goes according to plan, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see him in the Sox lineup at some point this weekend vs. Oakland. And this leads me to my last point.
With every return from the DL comes a corresponding roster move, and the man on the other end of this one looks to be Trayce Thompson. There’s probably two moments that highlight Trayce’s 2018 stint with the White Sox best. The first, this walk-off home run vs. the Twins.
Trayce Thompson with the walk-off bomb! #WhiteSox win, 6-5! @SoxOn35th pic.twitter.com/X2QuEXzvS7
— Jonnie Nonnie (@NonnieJonnie) May 4, 2018
The other moment? Trayce getting his cleat caught in the fence while attempting to rob Nick Castellanos of a homer.
Does this count as an outfield assist for Adam Engel?
?: https://t.co/OJM5NDAYhZ pic.twitter.com/BFvHeuHwOQ
— Cut4 (@Cut4) June 16, 2018
I mean, if I had to guess one person would get their cleat caught in a fence while attempting a robbery, it would definitely be Trayce Thompson because that’s just the type of player he is. While most of his time here hasn’t been good, we’ll at least have these two memories to look back on a few years from now. Until then, we’ll have to see if the 108ers get their wish before Avi is activated.
Before they activate Avi Garcia, I hope the #WhiteSox have one more game with a Tilson / Engel / Thompson OF, just for Old Times Sake.
— Section 108 (@fromthe108) June 19, 2018
