Chicago White Sox: 2021 grade for Danny Mendick

The Chicago White Sox had a lot of depth in 2021. They needed it with all of the injuries that they sustained during the season and that allowed them to win the division. One of those players was Danny Mendick who played a fair amount of games this season.

When Nick Madrigal went down due to injury, Danny Mendick played some second base in his place along with Leury Garcia. This was until the Sox acquired Cesar Hernandez to play the position from the trade deadline until the end of the season.

Mendick was somewhat promising in 2020 but he wasn’t as good in his 2021 campaign. He appeared in 71 games for the White Sox this season where he slashed .220/.303/.287 for an OPS of .589. He hit two home runs and had 20 RBIs and 14 runs scored.

These are not great stats at all for Mendick. He was never known to be a great hitter but he certainly needed to be better than that to showcase his need to be in the lineup. He had a -0.3 WAR which is certainly not going to get it done. He is very good defensively but the hitting was just so bad that there is no reason to use him in a lineup until it improves.

Danny Mendick had a very interesting year for the 2021 Chicago White Sox.

2021 Final Grade: D

Danny Mendick had awful offensive statistics. His slugging percentage was as low as any player in the league which made his OPS suffer big time. He provided almost no offensive stability in a time where they really needed it so it didn’t take long for them to try other people.

His 79 appearances were probably about 69 more than he would have had if the team remained healthy. However, he doesn’t get a complete F because of the fact that he is a very nice defensive infielder. He can play second, short, or third which makes him somewhat valuable in that respect. He was a Gold Glove nominee in 2020 at second base because he was so good there.

2022 Expectations:

There is a good chance that Danny Mendick doesn’t see much time with the MLB club in 2022. If he does, that means that he stuck around and was good enough to be an injury replacement at some point. If the team remains mostly healthy for the year, don’t count on seeing him as much.

With that said, all hope is not lost for him as a big-league player. The White Sox could consider allowing him to move on via trade or something or he could continue to work on his game in AAA. Adam Engel was just as bad of a hitter at one point and he turned it around. We will see what happens with Danny Mendick.