4 years agoChicago White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal has established himself as an offensive force behind the dish over the past half-decade, but he has yet to find his power stroke early on this season. Through his first 12 games, Grandal has yet to go deep and has compiled a .661 OPS, which would be the lowest mark of his career. While he is producing a career-high 44.4% Hard Hit rate, his xSLG of .362 would be a career worst, which largely is the product of his 5.9 average launch angle. Having cranked at least 22 homers in each of the last four years, Grandal has made a living by putting the ball in the air. But this season, just 7.4% of batted balls have been flyballs, a massive drop-off from the 27.2 rate he had in 2019. Grandal heads to Detroit next week with a pair of southpaws on the bump, which could be the impetus for finding his first blast after homering 11 times in 155 against lefties last year.--Jesse Borek
Source: MLB