The White Sox are only 16 games into a long 162-game season, but there seem to be more than enough red flags to be concerned about this team the rest of the way.
Pedro Grifol’s squad is 6-10 and has yet to win back-to-back games or a series. Sunday’s loss against the Baltimore Orioles featured a second lead of three runs or more given away and seven walks by White Sox pitchers. That brings their season total to 81, the second most in the MLB behind the rebuilding Oakland Athletics.
Last June, when the Baltimore Orioles came to town, it felt like a measuring stick series. The White Sox were reeling, and a four-game set at home against a young team seemed to be just what the doctor ordered. The White Sox proceeded to get embarrassed, losing three of four and only scoring one run in the first 18 innings of the series.
At that point, many realized the White Sox were in trouble. This year it didn’t take long for the Orioles to expose this team once again. White Sox starter Dylan Cease, who has been carrying the team in April, summed up the series.
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“Just in general, walks will really kill you, Dylan Cease said after the game.
The bad defense didn’t help, either. Jake Burger reminded everyone why he can’t be an everyday third baseman with a costly error in the fourth inning. This two-out error extended the inning, eventually resulting in a two-run triple from Cedric Mullins.
It’s hard to be mad at Burger, who spent a good deal of time working at first base during Spring Training. The three homers he hit during the series atone for his lone error. However, it continues with the concerning trend from last season of having players play positions they shouldn’t be, like Gavin Sheets in the outfield, because of injuries and lack of depth.
Rick Hahn did little to address the team’s depth in the offseason, bringing in patchwork solutions, most of whom are now in Triple-A, in the hopes the White Sox core would stay healthy for the first time.
That plan has already backfired as Eloy Jimenez just returned from the IL, while Yoan Moncada and Tim Anderson are currently on the IL. It’s more of the same as last year. Just don’t tell Rick Hahn that. He won’t believe you.
“You guys always hear from the most negative fans,” he told reporters from the visitor’s dugout before the series. “The fans I talk to never come up to me and say, ‘Rick, this is the start of the same stuff as last year.’ They seem to seek you guys out in the comments sections. Imagine that.”
Meanwhile, Pedro Grifol can’t win. He received criticism for keeping Dylan Cease in the game for a career-high 113 pitches. After all, the White Sox have suffered enough injuries this season. The last thing they need is their ace and Cy Young candidate to go down.
But, Grifol has a bullpen that is incapable of getting outs. They squandered a 3-0 lead in game one of the series. In the rubber match on Sunday, they flipped a 4-4 tie into an 8-4 deficit.
Through 16 games, the bullpen owns a 7.57 ERA, the highest mark in the MLB. Part of this is due in large part to the 39 walks they have issued.
Sunday was more of the same. Aaron Bummer allowed a leadoff double to open the seventh inning, followed by a single that was sandwiched between two walks. Three runners came around to score because, unlike the White Sox, the Orioles have hitters that can produce with runners in scoring position.
The cherry on top was when Jake Diekman, Rick Hahn’s lone trade deadline acquisition from a year ago, gave up his mandatory run in the ninth inning. Diekman now carries a 10.29 ERA in seven innings pitched. He has allowed at least one run in five of his first nine appearances this season.
As Steve Stone put it on the broadcast, great managers are made by great bullpens. Grifol has little to work with. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t made his fair share of questionable decisions from the dugout.
“There is still a lot of season left,” Cease said. “We’ve just got to clean it up a little bit.” Stop me if you’ve heard that before because it’s what this team was saying all of last season.
Pedro Grifol was brought in to clean this up, but it appears the stink of 2022 still lingers on this year’s squad.
