Avi Garcia has played in less than 20 games since April, but could he still draw contenders to the deadlines?



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The White Sox made a comeback in the second half and jumped in the playoff race …

This season has always been about rebuilding and developing at every level of the game. 39; organization. record in the dawn of the second half can certainly qualify as disappointing, it should not count as completely surprising.

But with the unique opportunity to watch the future of the franchise unfold before their eyes, South Side baseball fans still have reason to pay attention to what's going on in the last 67 games of the club. # 39; team. Here are five of these reasons:

1. Will the true Yoan Moncada rise up please?

The first star of this rebuilding process had a series of things in its first full season of baseball. He started getting cold, hot, hit the injured list, got really cold and finished the first half on a tear of two weeks that saw him cut his .356 / .453 / .644 in his last 12 games. There were seven extra-low shots, seven RBIs, eight goals and 11 points scored in the same period.

So, which Moncada is the Moncada that the White Sox will receive in the second period?

Great hopes after being nicknamed the No. 1 prospect at baseball last season, and he will not be the last hope of the White Sox to graduate in the majors and then to part with all his actions on the ground. Just or unfair, it is life for Moncada until it can produce consistently. But he may be about to do it.

What he needs to clean up, is the abundance of hitters of disadvantage – his 130 of them are only two on the big leaders – and his mistakes on the ground , where he ranks third baseball with 15 field errors, the most among the second basemen. Are these developmental problems growth pains or will Moncada be the kind of player who hits really well, hits a lot and makes a lot of mistakes? It is worth looking at the rest of the season to answer this question.

2. When Michael Kopech and Eloy Jimenez arrive, you will want to be there.

The most important issue on the horizon for the 2018 season was perhaps the one where the White Sox would promote the two best hopes of the major league. The answer to this question is much more complicated than it was in the spring, but there is still a good chance to see these two guys from the South Side before the end of the regular season.

Kopech had a tough season at Triple-A Charlotte, nothing that reflects the lightness with which he dominated the Double-A level in 2017, when he hit 155 hitters in 22 starts. The strikeouts are still there this year – he's 131 in 19 starts – but he's been running a lot of guys and had bad outings when he's allowed to run. In all, this left him 58 steps and a 4.29 MPB at this point in Charlotte's season.

From the point of view of results, things have improved lately. He has a 2.53 ERA in his last six starts, a 2.33 ERA in his last five games, and has rebounded after four outings, four innings and three innings with two gems.

Of course, Rick Hahn has always hinted that the results would not necessarily translate into great league preparation and that the White Sox are waiting for Kopech to show them specific things. win his ticket for the majors. Has it already happened? Looks like if it happened, Kopech would be here now. Nevertheless, a full season Triple-A, working on problems and targeting a different type of hitter than the previous season in Double-A, would give at least a promotion in September for one of the best hopes of the game. [19659002JimenezisplususedbetweentheTriple-Aaunbonniveaumaisinstructionsarelimitedonthiscountrywatchandlonely269ontheseasonbetweenDouble-AetTriple-Alajajouonly17matchstoCharlotterthiswasnotmaintainedonthehistoryofdisabilities

But he undoubtedly swung an impressive bat on both levels. He was promoted after reducing the .317 / .368 / .556 with 10 homers and 42 RBIs in 70 games in Birmingham. He has a .297 / .357 / .484 line in Charlotte with three homers and seven runs in 17 games.

Again, box scores are not the only thing the White Sox are looking for, and Hahn has talked about the importance of getting Jimenez to-bat at the Triple-A level. But if he continues to rake, Jimenez would see to see much of the league before the end of the season.

3. Hahn already said that he was expecting a quieter trade deadline for the White Sox this summer after what happened a season ago when he eliminated a good part of the list, including many of a high

It's not hard to see why he thinks that, considering the team – a year later in its reconstruction effort – there is simply not as much marketable or desirable badets in the major league list.

That does not mean that there is nothing to trade, and either before the end of the month or in a waiver agreement before the end of next month, it's worth it see what the White Sox can get for James Shields, Joakim Soria and the average healers like Luis Avilan and Xavier Cedeno. None of these players get the kind of returns that Hahn got a year ago in the seven-player exchange with the New York Yankees or the crosstown trade with the Cubs.

Look perhaps at the exchanges that sent Anthony Swarzak, Melky Cabrera and Dan Jennings to the outside of the city as a better predictor. Such statements – Ryan Cordell, A.J. Puckett and Casey Gillaspie – might not excite the imagination of fans and observers. But the reconstructions are full of surprises, and anything that Hahn could get could have an impact on the future of the White Sox.

Need a proof? Look at the August deal that sent Miguel Gonzalez to the Texas Rangers. The back piece in this affair, the very little announced Ti 'Quan Forbes, has a great season at the Winston-Salem A clbad this season.

4. Next steps for Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez

After Moncada, the major league players whose developments are the most important for the future of this team are Giolito and Lopez, two potential parts of the future rotation. The competition for spots in this rotation is strong with all the development prospects that are still developing among miners. But Giolito and Lopez can give themselves an advantage with solid performances to finish this season.

Giolito struggled for much of the campaign. He is still the leader of the American League in the races, with 60 of them in his 19 starts. He still has a ugly 6.18 ugly, thanks in large part to three outings with at least seven earned points allowed. But there have been flashes of light, some very recently. Giolito's last two starts to finish the first half were good. He earned two earned runs on just five hits in 13.2 innings. Without a doubt, his best back-to-back performances of the season.

Giolito had good starts before, only to follow them with no-as-good. And he has walked at least three batters in each of his last four starts. But Giolito's confidence has apparently never declined during this grueling campaign. If he manages to pull himself out of the game early in the second half, he will look more like the one who impressed so much in the last month of last season and during the spring training of this year.

Lopez, meanwhile, was perhaps the highest pitching point of the first half for the White Sox, even though he has an EER close to 4.00. That number has risen steadily since his remarkable start to the season: He has had a 4.87 ERA in his last 12 starts after taking a 2.44 lead after his first seven.

Lopez seemed more able to straighten the ship, for the most part, than Giolito this season. But it's not crazy to suggest that both guys could be in the second half after going through their respective growth pains during the first three and a half months. The prospects are coming, however, and they will need to step up their games if they want to claim a place in this rotation of the future.

5. Who will be Nicky Delmonico this year?

Delmonico joined the White Sox on August 1 of last season, and last winter he drew some White Sox fans into their projections for 2020. It's thanks to his impressive performance during the last two months of 2017, when he posted a base percentage of .373 with nine homers and 23 RBIs in just 43 games.

Delmonico's luck has not been as good this season. In addition to not reproducing these numbers early in the season, a broken hand kept it 37 games away. But the idea of ​​someone unexpected to come and surprising is still alive. Who could be this season?

Daniel Palka did his best to be this guy. Although he has a full season to his credit at the time of the month of October, he has done things that should be taken into account with 24 extra touches in 65 games. His averages are not as high as those of Delmonico in his limited season last season, but he obviously has some pop.

And Delmonico? Fans may have worried about his future in the White Sox championship after his slow start – and Jimenez, Luis Robert and Micker Adolfo en route – but Delmonico returned from his stay on the wounded list and as Avisail Garcia Did it earlier this year, he could come back with a shot.

The Cordell mentioned earlier seemed a candidate for this title earlier this season, although he had to deal with his own injury woes.

Certainly there will be surprises, though. This is how the baseball seasons and rebuilding efforts work. And if you pay attention, you will almost certainly have an unexpected name to talk about this offseason.

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