The White Sox have not been good. It is as simple as that. They currently are 7-12 and not only haven’t won back-to-back games, but also haven’t won a series. The only other team to do that is the Oakland Athletics. When your team is discussed along with the A’s, that is never good news. The White Sox sit in 4th place and look like a defeated team. It has not helped that rookie manager Pedro Grifol has continually made head-scratching in-game decisions that have cost us games.
Bullpen Mismanagement
One of the most obvious areas that Grifol has struggled in has been bullpen management. It does not help that the White Sox ‘pen has been horrible to start the season. But, there comes a point where the manager is not doing much to help that fact.
As Steve Stone says, a bad bullpen can make a good manager look like a bad one, but I’m not entirely sold on that being the case here. In today’s game against the Phillies, Grifol pulled starting pitcher Mike Clevinger after three innings and only 75 pitches. This was a curious move as he has allowed pitchers who have done worse to work through the tough early going. Unless there was an injury or some other deciding factor we don’t know about, this was a bad move.
The ‘pen has been taxed. Not only did the Sox play a doubleheader yesterday, but the bullpen has also had to cover many innings over the last couple of games. Yanking Clevinger when it would be advantageous to squeeze an extra inning or two out of him is a puzzling move. Especially considering Tanner Banks would come in and immediately give up two runs. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Grifol’s bullpen management.
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Another puzzling move that Grifol made recently was not pitching recent call-up Nick Padilla. When a team plays a doubleheader, they are allowed to bring on another player for an extra roster spot. Teams usually add a pitcher, and the Sox did just that. To everyone’s surprise, Padilla did not pitch in either game.
Padilla could have easily been used in the first game when they were losing by multiple runs late in the game. Not utilizing a fresh arm and allowing your bullpen to get extra rest is malpractice. Bullpen pitchers are typically more effective if they are not pitching every day, but unsurprisingly, most of the Sox arms rank at the top of the league in appearances. This does not bode well for them as the season progresses.
The continuous use of Jake Diekman has been the demise of the Sox in many games. For whatever reason, Grifol loves to use arguably the worst bullpen arm to exploit a lefty-lefty matchup that does not give the Sox an advantage. Diekman has been horrible this year and even worse against lefties. Grifol continually going to him in big spots is puzzling. Hopefully, he has learned his lesson.
We can give Grifol the benefit of the doubt, but at this point, he should know what everyone is capable of in the bullpen. If guys are simply not getting the job done, don’t put them in high-leverage situations. Save that for Lopez, Graveman, or even Lambert. He needs to figure this out soon or the Sox will be toast before June.
Matchup Malpractice
Another continuous move that has sunk Grifol is his obsession to create “favorable matchups.” These things can really make you look bad if they don’t work, and they haven’t. The perfect example is in today’s game when he pinch-hit Romy Gonzalez for Oscar Colas with runners on in a close game. Gonzalez would fly out and we would not score.
Sometimes it is smart to create the righty-lefty matchups if you have a good bat off the bench. But, when you pinch-hit a guy hitting .125 it’s most likely not going to end well. Grifol needs to understand just because someone is facing someone from the opposite side doesn’t always give him the advantage when the hitter he is subbing in is not doing well. He needs his best nine on the field at all times. It does not matter if they are lefty or righty. He is abusing this idea and it has not been working out, making him look outright foolish at times.
Grifol has also mismanaged off-days for players. Whether it is resting players before a scheduled off day, or not giving a struggling guy a day off, it has not looked good. Eloy has not been hitting. He looks lost at the plate. Giving him a day off might help him get right, but instead, he continually puts him in the middle of the White Sox lineup and it has hurt them.
Hopefully, these mistakes are a part of the learning curve and he begins to fix them, because if he doesn’t, he or the White Sox might not make it far into the season.
