Photo via Avisail Garcia/Twitter
Avisail Garcia
It didn’t take the Brewers long this offseason to learn they’ll have a hole to fill in their lineup for 2022: Almost immediately following the conclusion of the World Series they learned that outfielder Avisail Garcia, who had a $12 million mutual contract option for 2022, had declined his half of it and planned to test free agency.
Garcia’s stay in Milwaukee got off to a rough start and had some rocky stretches but ended with him as the Brewers’ leader in home runs in 2021. The 29 long balls he hit this year were easily a new career high for a player who has long been praised for having massive power.
The results haven’t always matched the inputs, but Garcia’s power is apparent in his peripheral numbers. According to Statcast he hit the ball 95 miles per hour or more 160 times in 2021, the most of any Brewer, and he didn’t just lead the team in home runs: He also hit the longest, second longest, third longest and fourth longest home run by a Brewer this year.
Christian Yelich, Rowdy Tellez, Eduardo Escobar and Jace Peterson all hit at least one baseball that traveled 450+ feet this season. Garcia, however, hit four baseballs that traveled further than the longest one any of them hit. Here they are, by date:
May 24 vs Padres’ pitcher Blake Snell, 456 feet (video)
Garcia had already hit a home run the previous day but stayed hot in the opener of a new series against the Padres. With the Brewers already leading 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning, he took a high, outside pitch that may not even have been a strike and launched it to the Associated Bank “Check Deck” for a solo homer.
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It was only mid-May, but this was the fourth time already this season Garcia hit a home run that Statcast said would have been a home run in all 30 MLB parks. Garcia would go on to hit a total of 13 home runs that fell into that category. At this point Garcia was just starting to hit his stride at the plate: Even after hitting home runs on back-to-back days he had a .776 on-base plus slugging for the season, but he had an .841 mark from the next day through the end of the year.
June 3 vs Diamondbacks’ pitcher Seth Frankoff, 464 feet (video)
The 2021 Diamondbacks had a rough go of it in a variety of ways, leading the National League in both hits and runs allowed. On this day Garcia piled on against pitcher Seth Frankoff, who was pitching in just his seventh MLB game and making what would turn out to be his final Big League appearance of the season.
This ball hit high off the scoreboard at American Family Field and padded the lead in a game where the Brewers were up 6-4 in the eighth inning. At 464 feet, it was the longest Brewers home run tracked by Statcast since 2017.
August 10 vs Cubs’ pitcher Justin Steele, 457 feet (video)
A few months after Garcia chased Frankoff out of Major League Baseball with a massive home run, he welcomed Cubs pitcher Justin Steele back to the majors with another. Steele had been recalled from AAA to make a start against the Brewers in a Wrigley Field day game and was doing reasonably well, having allowed just one run in the first three innings, when Garcia ruined his day with a two-run blast high into the left center field bleachers.
This was the front half of a doubleheader with the Cubs. Garcia did not start the second game but walked as a pinch hitter and scored again as the Brewers completed a sweep and continued to race out to a big lead in the NL Central.
September 12 vs Cleveland pitcher Bryan Shaw, 464 feet (video)
The Brewers were already leading 9-1 and Garcia had already homered once in the contest when he came to the plate with a runner on first in the top of the eighth inning, but that didn’t keep him from punishing a hanging slider. The result was something of an unlikely occurrence: Generally speaking, long home runs often come on fastballs, not on a slower pitch where the batter has to “provide all the power.” This one, however, came into the strike zone at 84 miles per hour and left Garcia’s bat at 113.
All told, just 32 of the 194 home runs Brewers batters hit this season came against sliders. This one produced quite the highlight, however, and will likely continue to be replayed long after (or if) Garcia signs with a new club.
