White Sox: 3 scapegoats not named Tony La Russa

Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa has taken the brunt of the blame for the team being a massive disappointment in 2022. But he’s not the only one who is to blame.

The Chicago White Sox were the only good team in the American League Central as they won the division by 13 games with a record of 93-69. The then-named Cleveland Indians were in second place with a sub-.500 record.

Now, the White Sox have some more competition with the Minnesota Twins leading the AL Central by 4.5 games over Cleveland with a 49-41 record. The White Sox are in third place and only half of a game back of Cleveland.

Manager Tony La Russa has taken a lot of criticism for the way the team has played and deservedly so. Some of his managerial moves are just head scratchers but some have cost his team games.

There are three other people that deserve a lot of blame, though, and some of them deserve it even more than La Russa.

3 White Sox scapegoats not named Tony La Russa

3) Injuries

The White Sox have had a lot of injuries to key players of the 2021 team in 2022.

Lance Lynn has only made six starts after making 28 starts in 2021 and coming in third in AL Cy Young Award voting. Yasmani Grandal (who was injured last year too) at least played in 93 games in 2021. This year, he has only played in 50 games and seen his offensive production drop a ton (155 OPS+ to 54 OPS+).

Yoan Moncada has only played in half of their games. Tim Anderson has missed about one-third of their games. Eloy Jimenez has missed most of the season yet again. In fact, of their position players, only one player has played in more than 72 of the team’s 88 games: José Abreu.

So injuries have been a factor for the team.