Grandal Ready To Bounceback After His Body Broke Down In 2022

On Saturday, June 11th Yasmani Grandal was feeling pretty good about himself as he walked to the plate for his second at-bat against the Texas Rangers. After a rough start to the season, the 33-year-old catcher was beginning to get his legs back under him. Grandal had hit safely in five of his last seven games with six RBIs and had just extended his hitting streak to five with a single to lead off the second inning.

Grandal returned to the batter's box in the third innings and picked up right where he left off. He took a low changeup from Martín Perez and punched it to right field. Unfortunately for Grandal and the White Sox, his entire season got derailed by what happened next. As he left the box, he ran gingerly to first base. He bent over in pain and had to be replaced by Reese McGuire.

"I don't think too many people understand what it's like to have a dead leg," Grandal told Chuck Garfein during an interview on the White Sox Talk Podcast. "When I hurt my back last year, both of my discs bulged and went completely out," Grandal said. "I was running down to first base against Texas. I had a really good game the day before. A really good game the day before that. I was feeling really good at the plate. Running to first, I was like, 'My hamstring went.' I kind of slipped when I came out of the box. A day later, I can't even get out of bed."

Grandal's body had failed him once again. The year before, he established career highs in OBP (.420), slugging percentage (.520), and OPS (.939). He also mashed 23 home runs, marking the fifth time in his career that he has hit 20 plus. Grandal managed to do this despite missing significant time with a knee injury. Once he returned, he went on a tear.

From August 27th until the end of the season, he leads the MLB in OBP and OPS while ranking second in slugging percentage and walk. He also had the sixth-highest batting average with a .337 mark during that stretch. The White Sox hoped their 73 million dollar catcher could build off that. His back had other ideas.

"The doctor told me we can do the surgery, and it takes ten minutes. It's just a small incision," Grandal said. "I felt like I needed to get back to my team and help them out. That's just the mentality that I had at the time."

Having surgery would have forced Grandal to miss four or five weeks of the season. With the team floundering, he wanted to try and return to the lineup quicker. So he chose to rehab his injury. The decision turned out to be a mistake. Not only did he still miss six weeks of the season, but he also lost all his strength in the lower half of his body.

Grandal could not put any weight on his front foot or transfer power in his swing. The results speak for themselves. He had a career-low in batting average, on-base, and slugging percentage. Grandal also hit just five home runs and 27 RBIs which were his lowest totals since 2013, when he was limited to just 28 games as a second-year player in San Diego.

"The days that it would come back and I felt great, you could tell that I would drive the ball, but it was still not there. It was almost like warning track power," Grandal said. "I would hit a ball. I would just square it up, and I would be like, 'That should have been a homer.' And it gets caught."

Losing as many games as the White Sox did and struggling to contribute weighed heavily on the veteran catcher. Grandal admitted that he was in a dark place.

"I tend to take losing a little bit harder than most people. It fired me up. By firing me up during the year, it frustrated me even more because I was unable to be helpful," Grandal said.

After being hampered by injuries the past two seasons, Grandal overhauled his offseason training regime. He hired Chicago Blackhawks strength and conditioning coach Paul Goodman. Grandal is already ten weeks into his new training program. He already thinks he will be faster, stronger, and more mobile next season. His workouts are so intense that he even passed out from one. While this may sound alarming to some, Grandal believes it is good for him because he is pushing his body to the limit.

"From the beginning of the offseason to now, it's a 360-degree change," he said. "My back is stronger. My mobility is better. I'm able to push more weight. I'm able to run more. I'm not getting sore. I'm not getting stiff.

"That's why I've been going seven days a week. We play seven days a week. I've always had this mindset that the catcher has to be the best-trained guy on the field because we're pretty much doing the most difficult job in our game. We're on a crouch, and we're moving all the time. That's why I've developed this regimen."

This is good news for the White Sox. They desperately need him to rebound. Before 2022 Grandal had hit 22 plus home runs in five consecutive full seasons. His power is something the team missed.

With the shift being banned, Grandal is poised for a bounce-back season.

"This year is going to be a little bit easier, just because now, with two strikes, you don't have to go for that big (home run) swing. You can stay up the middle, get your line drive or pull the ball between first and second, where before, if you pulled the ball between first and second, it was a double play. It's definitely going to change. I'm sure a lot of guys around the league are happy with it, but I'm definitely looking forward to it."