Veteran White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal working his way back after injury
GLENDALE, Ariz. (CBS) – Having Yasmani Grandal on your team usually means a trip to the playoffs.
CBS 2 Sports Director Marshall Harris caught up with the veteran catcher who had a streak of seven-straight postseason berths snapped last year.
"He looks great all the way around. He's strong. He's focused," said White Sox Manager Pedro Grifol.
White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal spent most of 2022 not fully recovered from offseason knee surgery, which was at the root of career-low statistics across the board. But after a full offseason of training, the 34-year-old is feeling back to his old self.
"I think the difference from this year to last year is last year, I had to hit try and swing where it shouldn't be like that. It should feel like you're not even trying to swing the bat. The batter's just going, which is how I'm feeling at this moment," said Grandal.
The two-time All Star isn't just feeling more relaxed at the plate. Defensively, the pain he played through in his 71 games at catcher is behind him.
"The fact that I'm able to move through the bottom while i'm catching, being agile right there, being strong, having my legs underneath me, it's gonna allow me to do many things behind the plate," says Grandal
Grifol added, "He's able to get in positions he wasn't able to get into last year, bodywise. He's working lower to the ground. now we're just fine tuning the details that really he had at one time. he just wasn't healthy last year."
It's not just a contract year, it's a chance for Grandal to get things back on track with a return to the playoffs. He said he's not even thinking about the start of the season. He's simply focused on the start of Spring Training.
