Grandal fired up for 'way different story' in 2023

SAN DIEGO -- Yasmani Grandal took about a five- or six-second pause when asked what went wrong with the 2022 White Sox.

He’s a good person to ask, considering the veteran catcher had played in seven straight postseasons prior to the disappointing current season that left the White Sox short. Grandal composed his thoughts and then produced a raw and honest assessment of a team battling simply to get above .500 with six games remaining.

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“To put it plain and simple, we just sucked,” Grandal said on Friday afternoon, before the Sox opened a three-game series against the Padres at Petco Park. “Anything else would be an excuse. And the last thing you want to make as a team, as an individual, is an excuse.

“It’s almost like a slap in the face. If you don’t take this year seriously, it’s going to come back to bite us in the [butt] next year again. Hopefully, we get everything straightened out and come back next year and give it a shot. … It just seemed like everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong. When you thought it was kind of coming back, it just never went back. It just kept going wrong.”

Asked to define what it means to take this year seriously as a team, Grandal said, “Understanding what it was that happened, more than anything.”

Individually, the ’22 campaign also was a tough one for the switch-hitter.

Grandal underwent right knee surgery during the offseason and spent the time away from baseball rehabbing, continuing the process during the lockout. He entered Friday with a .200/.301/.269 slash line to go with five homers, 12 extra-base hits, 14 runs scored and 27 RBIs.

Grandal also had a torn tendon in his left knee surgically repaired in-season in 2021 but returned strong with a 1.154 OPS in 30 games after returning. With the injury work behind him, Grandal is looking forward to a fully ramped up next few months in terms of getting ready for ’23.

“I have a really good idea of what it is I’m going to do, but it all depends on my trainer,” Grandal said. “It all depends on what he wants to tweak and what he doesn’t want to tweak. We are going to review the year, be able to sit down and talk and we are going to go from there.

“As I’ve gone, it’s gotten better and better. I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do in the offseason to get back to the explosiveness I’ve been talking about. Obviously, the workout routine last offseason I couldn’t do because we were rehabbing to make sure the knee wasn’t getting pounded.

“This offseason, it’s going to be full-go, just like every other offseason. Next year, I’m sure, is going to be a way different story.”

Having Grandal in top form, both offensively and defensively, is a major component to White Sox success. The front office probably will look for more balance from the left side offensively, even with the organization’s No. 2 prospect, outfielder Oscar Colas, seemingly on the way. Currently, Grandal, Yoán Moncada and Gavin Sheets are the primary presences from the left side.

The 33-year-old Grandal also is a leader and a driving force in making sure this blip for a talented team lasts only one year.

“Coming in knowing what we had, knowing what we can do and knowing what we needed to do, and then all of a sudden everything just kind of going out of the window, it's eye-opening,” Grandal said. “We understand the task. We understand what's ahead and what it is that we need to do in order to not be in this situation, because quite frankly, it's kind of weird for me to not be game-planning or starting to look at video for whoever it is that I'm going to face in the postseason."