It's been a tough season for the Chicago White Sox, which sit at 15-39 and 21.5 games back of the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central. The White Sox are in a rebuild, as Chris Getz has said as much openly to the press. Getz's actions have backed that up, trading Dylan Cease to the San Diego Padres before Opening Day.
Still, the White Sox need to play baseball. There is no easy way to fast forward to the end, unfortunately. This is not MLB The Show.
Manager Pedro Grifol is tired of it. Just over fifty games into the season, Grifol has alienated his own clubhouse with comments made following a 4-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.
“Crochet pitched his ass off,” Grifol said. “We got no-hit through [seven innings]. We had a pinch-hitter break it up. The rest of the guys–not the rest of the guys–most of the guys were f---ing flat today. Unacceptable.”
White Sox manager Pedro Grifol alienates his entire team
In truth, the White Sox faced one of the best pitchers in the American League in Kyle Bradish. Bradish finished fourth in Cy Young voting last season, and through five starts in 2024, has a 1.75 ERA. Sometimes, you just run into a buzzsaw. The Orioles are arguably the most talented team in the AL at their best.
White Sox catcher Korey Lee and starting pitcher Garrett Crochet came to their teammates' defense.
“He’s going to feel that way and obviously we have a different feeling,” Lee said. “He is entitled to his own opinion also. I think that’s a valid reason. It’s nothing to hide about that. He has his opinions and everyone is going to have their own opinions.”
Crochet openly called out Grifol, saying the White Sox shouldn't focus on specific losses given how tough their schedule has been of late.
“We just played a stretch against some really good teams,” Crochet said. “I don’t think it’s necessarily fair to harp on the losses and beat ourselves up too much. We’ve just got to put together a full nine innings of good baseball.”
Danny Mendick claimed that the clubhouse camaraderie is at an all-time high, despite what Grifol may say. The skipper was frustrated after a loss. Mistakes happen. Yet, how Grifol deals with it in the days to come with a group of players he must lead will define whether or not this can be a step forward in his own development as a manager.
If not, perhaps he's not the right manager to lead these young players through some tough times ahead.