The Chicago White Sox need these three players to avoid another awful season

The Chicago White Sox had a disappointing 2022 season. The hope is with Pedro Grifol now in charge, the Sox can get back to contending for the AL Central and more in 2023.

A new manager is only going to go so far.

The Southsiders need to make sure they do not have any underperformances like they did last season. Lack of full effort and injuries helped ruin 2022.

Yoan Moncada, Yasmani Grandal, and Joe Kelly were three players that were horrible last season. Injuries contributed to their poor 2022 outcome, but they need to use this season to show they can be valuable pieces on a contending team.

The hope is Yoan Moncada’s World Baseball Classic can propel him to a great year.

Moncada’s career on the Southside has been inconsistent. He slashed .315/.367/.548 with a .915 OPS in 2019.

His numbers have plummeted since then. COVID-19 derailed his 2020 season. Injuries and inconsistency plagued him in 2021 and 2022.

Moncada’s defense has never been an issue. Entering his sixth full season in the big leagues, it is time Moncada gets back to being a consistent threat at the plate.

He provided some hope during the World Baseball Classic. His slash line was .435/.519/.739 for the Cuban team.

If he can crush the ball for the White Sox as he did in the WBC, it will strengthen the bottom of the lineup. Now that Andrew Benintendi is most likely to hit in the two-hole, Moncada will be dropped in the batting order. Moncada raking in the sixth or seventh spot gives some potency in that part of the lineup that was lacking last season.

Fangraphs projects Moncada will have a much better 2023 than he did last year. They forecast he will have a 111 wRC+ which is an upgrade from 76 last season.

Although Moncada is dinged up again.

Moncada also suffered a minor rib injury in the World Baseball Classic. The hope is these are just aches and pains and not something that will derail another season.