Yasmani Grandal was an outstanding player for the Chicago White Sox in 2021. Even through injury, he was one of their most impactful bats and a big reason for their 93-69 team. Coming into 2022, people were right to expect another big year for the star catcher.
Unfortunately, the 2022 season was a complete and utter disaster for the highest-paid player in the history of the Chicago White Sox franchise. He struggled with his glove defensively and was terrible with his bat. For a while, he was literally a detriment to the team's chances to win the game.
Over the course of the year, he had a slash line of .202/.301/.269 for an OPS of .570. He only hit five home runs and had 27 RBIs with 15 runs scored. Somehow, as the slowest player in the league, he had a stolen base as well. All of this accumulated a WAR of -1.4.
Those numbers are even more dreadful than some might have thought. If he gets off to a start that mirrors that start in 2023, they should just figure out a way to cut bait with him. Even if he is injured and that is the reason for this, he would need to go if that continues.
2022 Grade: F
The Chicago White Sox could have used more from Yasmani Grandal.
The 2022 grade that Yasmani Grandal deserves is definitely an F. It is hard to give out a failing grade to anyone but being a negative WAR player means that your team would have literally been better off if you weren't there and that was the case for him this year.
This F grade doesn't mean that he can't bounce back next season. If he comes in with the new coach (who he has already been publicly hanging out with) and dominates again, it won't be all that surprising.
He doesn't need to be the best catcher in the AL anymore but being a positive WAR player would be nice. If the White Sox can get a somewhat bounce-back year from him, they might start to resemble themselves from the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
Grandal has had a very good career that he should be proud of. However, this 2022 season wasn't very good at all. Hopefully, he is able to rebound next year and earn a much better grade. He will get his chance but his leash might be short.