8 Chicago White Sox are featured on MLB.com’s top 100 players

The Chicago White Sox has eight top-100 players on MLB’s ranking right now.

85. Lucas Giolito – SP

Compared to the previous season, Giolito slid down the rankings a bit dropping from number 60 to number 85. Giolito had a decent season in 2021 with 11 wins and 9 losses in 31 games. He had an ERA of 3.53. With the departure of Carlos Rodon, Giolito is the ace and is expected to have a strong season.

Giolito has been named the opening day starter so we will get a look at his stuff early on. I would suspect that he will have a stellar season and approach 14-17 wins on the year.

82. Yoan Moncada – 3B

Moncada moves up a little bit compared to last year from 90 to 82. Despite a slow spring training, hopes are high that Moncada will be one of the best batters in the lineup for the White Sox in 2022. Last season, Moncada boasted a slash line of .263/.375/.412. That’s not too bad for a guy that is still getting his feet wet in the Major Leagues.

He remained relatively healthy last season, playing in 144 games with 616 plate appearances. He is likely to be batting in the sixth spot in the lineup and brings a lot of power and ability with him. Moncada, as long as he can stay healthy, should have a great 2022 campaign and be one of the best third basemen in the Major Leagues.

59. Liam Hendriks – RP

Hendriks slides back one spot from 58 to 59. He was arguably the best closer in baseball last year. He was reliable and on point in almost every start in 2021. Out of the 71 innings that he pitched last year, Hendriks had 38 saves with just six blown saves. That was his first year with the White Sox.

Chicago is doing well by having Hendriks as part of their bullpen. This team will win a lot of games thanks to his pitching and ability to save games so he has become a valuable member of this team. Hendriks played so well in 2021, that he ended up in the All-Star game.

You can bet that he will be back there again this year. One of the more popular players on the team, Hendriks has a fiery attitude and is someone that has the mentality to handle the closer role which can be very tough sometimes.

55. Yasmani Grandal – C

Thanks to an injury that kept him out of a few games in 2021, Grandal has fallen back just a bit in the rankings going from 49th to 55th. Grandal is an elite offensive catcher. He’s patient while waiting for just the right pitch before he blasts the ball over the fence for a home run. He also reaches the base often thanks to a good eye to notice pitches.

Grandal has taken a lot of criticism in the past for the way he has played. He wasn’t the greatest a hitting and struggled behind the plate at times. He has seemed to come into his own now and is one of the better catchers in the league.

Grandal is worthy of this ranking given to him by MLB.com. With a healthy season, it’s possible he could end up even higher in the rankings in 2023 and wind up as the top catcher in baseball.

51. Lance Lynn – SP

Lynn rose to the middle of the Top 100 after being 75th the previous season. This came on the heels of a strong season in which he pitched in 157 innings where he won 11 games with 6 losses. Lynn came in 3rd in AL Cy Young voting and was rather impressive overall. He has emerged as one of the aces in the pitching rotation.

The only issue with Lynn is that he’s going to be out until mid-May with a torn meniscus. The White Sox are really going to miss him but hopes are he will come back healthy and ready to pitch. Let’s hope for no additional setbacks and another strong season from Lynn.