Randal Grichuk joined the New York Yankees before the 2026 MLB season. He was supposed to be a right-handed solution for their lineup when they went up against left-handed pitching.
Grichuk never really got off the ground with the Yanks, though, and they released him on May 1.
The Chicago White Sox signed the veteran outfielder three days later, and since then, he has been one of the best hitters in Major League Baseball.
And no, that’s not an exaggeration, at least by the numbers.
The All Things Chicago Sports social media account shared on Sunday night that Grichuk has the second-best slugging percentage in MLB since he joined the White Sox.
The best? Yordan Alvarez.
Here’s that post, with the slugging percentages:
Since joining the Chicago White Sox, Randal Grichuk has a .596 slugging percentage.
Here’s a list of MLB hitters with a higher SLG (min. 150 ABs):
Yordan Alvarez (.599)
— All Things Chicago Sports (@things_sox) September 8, 2026
How Randal Grichuk Is Shining With White Sox
Grichuk is operating in mostly a platoon role with the White Sox, just like the plan had been with the Yankees, although he did homer over the weekend against a right-handed pitcher, so the hot bat extends to more than just right-on-left matchups.
Nothing about Grichuk’s profile is way different than the rest of his career.
He’s always been a guy who walks very little and hits the ball very hard. He also has generally been decent about his strikeout rate for a guy with power.
With the Yankees, though, Grichuk’s strikeout rate was at nearly a career worst, 30.3%.
With the White Sox, he’s striking out 22.4% of the time, so that’s made a big difference in allowing him to access his power.
Grichuk has played in 85 games with the White Sox and is batting .290 with 18 doubles, one triple and 12 home runs. He has driven in 34 runs.
In 192 plate appearances, he has eight walks and 43 strikeouts.
Grichuk has an OPS of .919 with the White Sox, which is better than anything he’s ever had in a full season in his career.
The power-hitting environment the White Sox have put together on this season’s roster sure seems to have rubbed off on Grichuk.
How Old Is Randal Grichuk?
Grichuk is now 35 years old, having celebrated his birthday in August.
For reference, the most fun Grichuk fact relates his MLB Draft to Mike Trout.
The Angels held the 24th and 25th picks in the 2009 MLB Draft. They used No. 24 on Grichuk. Then they picked Trout at No. 25.
No matter what Grichuk did in his MLB career, he was never going to live up to the guy drafted one pick behind him.
Still, it’s been an accomplished journey for Grichuk, who has 1,185 MLB hits, including 224 home runs.
This latest surge, with the improbable playoff-pointing White Sox, has to feel particularly special for him, and Grichuk might just get a chance to show this off in October, too.
White Sox Version of Randal Grichuk Is One of MLB’s Best Hitters