White Sox Report Cards: Player grades half-way through

Catchers

The Chicago White Sox have to be happy with the way things are going for their catchers.

Yasmani Grandal – A

Yasmani Grandal gets an A. There are some people that wrongly despise him because of his batting average. Truth be told, the batting average is only one statistic that we have to evaluate hitters in the year 2021. There are plenty of other (better) ways to evaluate players now. Grandal is an elite offensive catcher and his pitch framing is very good. There isn’t anyone the White Sox needs in the middle of their lineup more right now than Grandal.

With some of the offense that is missing from this group right now, Grandal has been able to provide it. He hits a lot of home runs and drives in a lot of runs as well. He is also incredible at finding ways to reach base via the walk. He has an incredible .388 on-base percentage which tells you everything you need to know about his value. He also has a .830 OPS which is among the best on the team. Some people might not like him getting an A but that is what he deserves.

Zack Collins – B

Zack Collins is an interesting player. We didn’t really know what to expect from him going into the season or if he would even be the backup catcher. Luckily for him, he did make it as Grandal’s backup and he has done a nice job. He plays well defensively as he mostly catches Carlos Rodon and Lucas Giolito. His offense has also been picking up lately which is a great sign for him. The B is well deserved but he has room for development.

Yermin Mercedes – A

Even though Yermin Mercedes was the designated hitter, for the most part, he is a catcher by trade. He was just sent down to AAA because of his recent struggles but he is getting an A on the season as a whole. To come in and do what he did with the circumstances he has dealt with in his career is incredibly hard and was incredibly fun to watch. They would not be where they are right now without his special April.