DETROIT — Catcher Yasmani Grandal has played with four teams, none for longer than his four seasons with the Dodgers. He would like to exceed that with the White Sox.
‘‘I’m excited to be here till the end of this contract and hopefully after that,’’ said Grandal, who is in the second season of a four-year, $73 million deal that makes him the highest-paid Sox player. ‘‘It’s time to stay in one [organization] for a longer time than three or four years.’’
Grandal, 32, said he saw the young talent, the Sox’ vision and ‘‘where these guys were going’’ when he signed. He’s seeing young organizational talent doing enough to keep the Sox comfortably in first place in the American League Central at the midpoint of the season, despite a rash of injuries.
Meanwhile, the Sox have seen Grandal doing what they signed him for, putting up a .190/.388/.441 hitting line with an .830 OPS that leads their regulars. One of the best pitch-framers in the game — whose metrics this season have improved after he ditched catching on one knee to protect a once-sore joint — Grandal’s total package adds up to wins-above-replacement figures that rank him second behind third baseman Yoan Moncada among Sox position players.
Grandal, who has a sore calf, sat out the Sox’ 11-5 loss Saturday to the Tigers that halted a five-game winning streak and won’t play in the series finale Sunday, but he expects to be back soon.
Triple-A catcher Seby Zavala joined the Sox’ taxi squad in case a stint on the injured list is necessary, but Grandal said not to worry.
‘‘Nothing big,’’ he said. ‘‘I can catch; it’s fine. We’re just being safe more than anything.’’
That’s probably a good thing because the Sox need him badly.
Grandal might be named an All-Star for the third time Sunday and is having his best stretch of the season, hitting safely in 10 of his last 11 games with four home runs, 14 RBI and a 1.129 OPS during that span.
‘‘In the past two or three years, people have started to understand analytics a little more,’’ Grandal said. ‘‘It takes a long time to get rid of a bad habit, and that one is thinking a hitter has to hit .300 to be productive. I have never hit .300 in my life, and I’ve been one of the most productive hitters in the league.’’
Aided by 59 walks, Grandal is second to Moncada on the Sox in on-base percentage and second to shortstop Tim Anderson in runs scored, even though he is the slowest runner on the team.
‘‘There’s still some of that old-time thinking that .300 with 30 homers and 100 RBI [is the standard for excellence],’’ Grandal said. ‘‘But to get those RBI, you have to have men on base.’’
Grandal said he likes how his swing is locked in now.
‘‘But I’ve had stretches where it was way better,’’ he said.
The Sox were in a good stretch until left-hander Dallas Keuchel coughed up leads of 2-0 and 5-3.
‘‘It started out pretty good, and then it was terrible,’’ Keuchel said. ‘‘That really sums it up.’’
Leury Garcia homered against Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal and drove in another run on a force play, and Anderson doubled twice and scored both times on singles by Jose Abreu. In both instances, Gavin Sheets moved Anderson to third by grounding out to the right side of the infield.
The Sox’ five runs were their fewest since their winning streak began. They have averaged eight runs in their last six games, and Grandal has been in the middle of it.
‘‘I’ve been doing exactly what I want to do with the ball,’’ he said. ‘‘I’m pretty locked in, but I’ve been even better than that. It’s not locked in 100%. It can be way better.’’
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Yasmani Grandal’s time away should be short, and that’s good thing for White Sox - Chicago Sun-Times
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