Yasmani Grandal
The Chicago White Sox needs Yasmani Grandal to provide a lot of power.
Yasmani Grandal is not your prototypical leadoff hitter. On the surface, he looks like a terrible candidate.
Grandal batted just .240 last season and also happens to be a career .240 hitter. But that does not tell the entire story. Leading off is all about getting on base. Nobody on the White Sox does that better than Grandal.
Grandal led the White Sox with a 23.2 walk rate. His 87 walks were the seventh most in the MLB, despite the fact that he only played in 93 games due to injury. He also owned a stellar .940 OPS
Unlike most leadoff hitters, Grandal has an abundance of power. He hit 23 home runs which ranked second on the team.
The White Sox also averaged the most runs per inning when Yasmani Grandal was leading off the said inning. He can serve as a table-setter. Grandal also dealt with knee issues early in the year. When he was fully healthy he went on an offensive tear in September.
Grandal batted .320 with a .470 OBP. If he can carry that over to 2022, the White Sox lineup will be very difficult for opposing pitchers to navigate.
Speed would be a concern but having a guy that is able to draw a walk at the beginning of the game or launch the ball 350 plus feet is very intriguing.