Most of the Chicago White Sox players should be very happy with their 2020 player grades.
The whole set of Southside Showdown player grades is officially done. Every player that made somewhat of an impact on the 2020 Chicago White Sox has been graded. Each player was handed a letter grade based on how I saw their season. It was a tough season because of COVID-19 but the White Sox made the best of it by making it to the playoffs for the first time since 2008. There was no Minor League Baseball season so the White Sox (and every other team) had to make the best with their Taxi Squad.
A lot of players had a helping hand in the White Sox ending the long playoff drought. Even the players that had poor grades had at least one moment this season that they should be proud of. Some of them had moments they should be proud of on a nightly basis. One player, Lucas Giolito, had a moment that will forever be remembered as the team’s best moment of 2020 as he tossed his first career no-hitter. He had himself an A-grade season.
There were other players that received A-grades because they were so good. Guys like Jose Abreu, Tim Anderson, Dallas Keuchel, and Luis Robert amongst others received A’s for different reasons. There are guys, like Jose Abreu, who were given A’s because they were MVP winners and guys like Luis Robert were given A’s because of how good he was in his rookie year.
Of course, even on a team as good as the White Soss were, not every player is getting good grades. Edwin Encarnacion, Nomar Mazara, and Reynaldo Lopez are a few examples of players who didn’t receive very good grades. They are all awesome dudes who hopefully find success in 2021 and beyond but 2020 wasn’t good for them.
In 2021, most of these players who have been graded are going to try and win the World Series. Well, making the playoffs again is a much shorter goal but once they are there they will be in it to win it. There is a lot of impressive talent on this team and most of the grades handed out reflect it. We can only hope that every single player, even the ones who had A’s, improve going forward because that is what it takes to win it all.