Chicago White Sox: Danny Mendick was surprisingly good
The Chicago White Sox have a surprisingly nice player in Danny Mendick.
The Chicago White Sox drafted Danny Mendick in the 22nd round of the 2015 MLB Draft out of the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He climbed his way through the organization and now it looks like he might be a pretty good player for them. He made his MLB debut in 2019 but he played significantly more in 2020, despite the short season. It was a pleasant surprise to see him make this much of an impact on the team.
For one, you would consider him a backup and he was still good enough defensively to be nominated for a Gold Glove Award. It was a great accomplishment for him as it should give him another chance to make an impact in 2021. The White Sox need bench players like Mendick to come in and be great when called on. If they need a defensive replacement late in the game, he is a good player to insert into that.
Mendick was also decent enough offensively to make him worth having on the roster. He had a .243 batting average which is very okay for a player like him. He did have three home runs, 6 RBIs, and 11 runs scored in 114 plate appearances. It will be interesting to see what these numbers look like if he was a backup position player during a full 162 game season. There is a good chance that he gets that opportunity going forward.
Final Grade: B-
Danny Mendick absolutely deserves this grade. Grades in baseball should be relative to who they are. If Jose Abreu had his numbers he would be getting an F but Mendick is a different player. There weren’t any expectations and it was only his second season getting Major League playing time and it was a backup. The offensive numbers were pretty good and could still improve but he was awesome defensively. The Gold Glove nomination earns him the B- rather than the C grade. It was a good year for Mendick and fans should be excited to see what the future brings.
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2021 outlook:
Mendick is going to be on the Major League roster next season. He is going to be a backup position player and should get a fair amount of starts if the full 162 game slate is allowed to be played. Nick Madrigal could also miss some time for an injury he is currently recovering from so Mendick could even be the Opening Day second baseman, depending on other moves made by the team. All good teams have depth players like Mendick so the White Sox should continue showing faith in him.