The 2020 baseball season has pushed everyone out of their comfort zone but maybe none more so for the Milwaukee Brewers than Avisaíl García.
After opening as the every-day rightfielder and a middle-of-the-order bat, he’s spent the majority of his time in center field while often hitting in the lead-off spot.
García became the primary centerfielder in early August after Lorenzo Cain opted out of the remainder of the season. While he looks more like a first baseman physically at 6 feet 4 inches and 250 pounds, he’s more than held his own thanks to his above-average speed and a plus-throwing arm.
After being hit in the forearm with a pitch and then rolling the same ankle twice while running the bases the last time the Brewers were in town, the 29-year-old has been dealing with a balky hamstring that kept him out of the lineup for the first three games of Milwaukee’s just-completed five-game road swing.
García was back in center and leading off Friday to start a big series against the Chicago Cubs at Miller Park. The Brewers opened their final home stand five games out in the Central Division and two games back of the second-place St. Louis Cardinals as well as the National League wild-card standings.
“It’s been a grind,” García conceded before the game. “Most of my career, I’ve been playing right field. In right field, you don’t have to run a lot. That’s the big difference between center field and right field – I think I’ve got to cover all the gaps, and playing every day, it’s a grind.
“But I like to play. I’m a competitive guy. I’m going to play wherever they put me and try to do my best.”
García was the Brewers’ biggest free-agent signing in the offseason, inking a two-year, $20 million contract last Dec. 17 that included a team option for 2022.
The pact made sense for Milwaukee. García was coming off one of the best seasons in his eight years in the majors, having hit .282 with a career-best 20 home runs with 72 runs batted in.
His throwing arm makes García a natural rightfielder, and Christian Yelich agreed in spring training to move from right to left to accommodate him. With the ageless Cain in center, the Brewers’ outfield was a strength on paper.
But when Cain chose to forgo the remainder of the season due to coronavirus concerns, the decision was made to put García in center while rotating others in right. Coming into Friday, Ben Gamel had 18 starts in right, with five other players also receiving at least one.
With 26 starts under his belt, García has rated as exactly average in center according to the metrics, accounting for zero defensive runs saved, which is tolerable for the Brewers. He also registered two of his three assists at that spot, with his arm the one clear advantage over the Gold Glove Award-winning Cain.
Offense has been a different story for García, who has hit first, third, fourth, fifth and sixth so far on a team that’s repeated lineups just twice all season (including Friday).
Like many others across the game – and on his own team – he has been unable to get going. In 34 games (32 starts), García was hitting .237 with two homers and 14 RBI. His on-base percentage of .351 was solid but his slugging is only .360, which would be the lowest since he was a 21-year-old rookie.
García also stole his first base Friday after swiping a career-best 10 in 2019. Has the move to center played a role in his offensive slide? Garcia suggested it might have been a factor.
“I’ve been struggling a little bit. Like I say, it’s a grind, it’s a big difference, but it’s no time for an excuse,” García said. “I think I’ve been struggling. I just keep working. It’s a short season, you know? I think I’m going to try to do my best for these two weeks and try to help my team win.
“Let’s see what happens. It’s no time for excuses. It’s time to win games and do our best. »
It’s a lot easier to lead a division wire-to-wire in a 60-game season than over 162 games, but that’s what the Cubs are trying to do in the NL Central. Entering play Friday, they were up three games on the Cardinals and five on the Brewers.
How have the Cubs done it? By getting off to a great start. They went 13-3 in their first 16 games before finally getting cooled off by the Brewers, who won the final three of a four-game series at Wrigley Field in mid-August.
Since that fast start, the Cubs had posted a losing record (13-16) without getting caught, with the aid of St. Louis getting so many games postponed by its COVID-19 outbreak.
“They had a two-week stretch where they stacked up a ton of wins,” said Brewers manager Craig Counsell, whose team hasn’t come close to two hot weeks, or even one.
“That’s how they created a pretty big lead and no other team in our division has had two weeks like that. That’s the difference in the season right now. They had a great first two weeks.”
For only the second time this year, Counsell used the same lineup in consecutive games. Pretty easy to stick with a batting order that produced 19 runs Wednesday in Detroit but Counsell said it all came down to one thing.
“We’ve got another left-handed pitcher going,” he said. “I’m not intentionally changing up lineups or not changing up lineups. It’s a left-handed pitcher going, so it’s the same matchups. We haven’t had back-to-back lefties that often this year.”
García, Ryan Braun (lower back) and Jedd Gyorko (foot) have all had their physical issues but were healthy enough to play two games in a row. Counsell said Braun remains the most delicate situation going forward.
“With Ryan, it’s always going to be day to day, for me,” Counsell said. “It’s been that way in the recent past as far as how we’re having to manage him. He’s in a good place but it’s not always frequency of playing that gets him. It’s every-day living that gets him sometimes.”
Not only are more teams getting in the playoffs this year – 16 instead of 10 – but the first round will be best-of-three. So, no one-game wild-card crap shoot, and perhaps no real home-field advantage without fans before the next rounds reportedly are moved into a bubble.
“Every coach, every player, every front office person would not want it to be just one game,” Counsell said. “So, we’re all a fan of (best of three). As far as no fans, I’d rather go on the road and have fans in the stands. It’s more fun. I’m not excited about no fans being in the stands. Part of the greatness of the playoffs is that atmosphere and energy at the game.”
