Chicago White Sox supervisor Pedro Grifol ran pitchers fielding observe earlier than Friday’s dwelling sport in opposition to the Minnesota Twins.
PFPs, as they’re known as, are a staple of spring coaching, a refresher course in protecting first base on grounders to the best aspect and beginning double performs. They’re often discarded because the season goes on and pitchers have had sufficient repetitions to know what to do.
But it’s by no means too late to point out your boss you’re not conceding something and for gamers to point out Grifol and new normal supervisor Chris Getz they’re nonetheless working arduous, even with 15 video games remaining and a 56-91 report.
So Sox pitchers and infielders carried out the drills prefer it may make a distinction, even whereas figuring out their season principally ended a couple of months in the past. Maybe it would win a sport down the stretch, or possibly it was only a present by Grifol to point out who’s boss.
Who is aware of?
What we do know is the Sox on Friday misplaced to the Twins 10-2, their 56th defeat in 83 video games since June 9, after they trailed the Twins by solely 3 1/2 video games.
Yet Grifol insists the Sox can contend as quickly as subsequent 12 months, a idea he repeated Friday.
“Why wouldn’t we?” he stated. “Why wouldn’t we be able to?”
Teams that find yourself with information just like the 2023 White Sox, who’re closing in on 100 losses, seldom flip themselves into contenders in a single season.
Grifol stated he noticed a report that contradicted my notion.
“There is a pretty good percentage of teams that have been out there that can turn it around in one year,” he stated. “And so obviously it depends on what we do this offseason. I’m pretty confident that we can.”
The Sox have misplaced 90 or extra video games 12 occasions since divisional play started in 1969. Only as soon as has a 90-plus loss Sox workforce gone to the postseason the next 12 months — Ozzie Guillen’s 2008 Sox after 90 losses in ‘07.
The 1990 Sox gained 94 video games after dropping 92 in 1989 however completed second to the Oakland A’s within the American League West. Most of the remaining completed underneath .500 the following season.
Spending a ton of cash to fill all of the holes on the roster could be the easiest way to make Grifol’s dream come true. Has Getz informed Grifol the Sox will spend extra subsequent winter?
Grifol stated he hasn’t spoken to Getz about payroll, including “that’s not my place to dive into.” He stated Getz and Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf will “have those conversations” this winter.
“I expect us to be extremely active looking for the type of players we feel can turn this team around in a year and sustain it for years to come,” he stated. “But right now, and also you’ll hear me say this a bunch transferring ahead, sufficient with the discuss. Nobody needs to listen to the discuss anymore. Everybody simply needs to see us win.
“I’m not going to sit here and promise anything because nobody wants to hear it. They’ve heard it for a long, long time. It’s about us winning baseball games. Until April, a couple weeks into April, a couple of weeks into the season, that’s when everybody should have an opinion and make a decision whether they like what we put on the field or not.”
I’m undecided Sox followers will maintain off their judgment on the workforce’s possibilities of successful till a pair weeks into April. More possible they’ll know by the tip of the vacations whether or not Getz has shipped off any of the underperforming veterans and changed them with gamers with a confirmed monitor report.
Among those that could possibly be gone are Tim Anderson, Dylan Cease, Elvis Andrus, Eloy Jiménez, Aaron Bummer, Mike Clevinger and Michael Kopech. Yasmani Grandal is pretty much as good as gone, and his would-be alternative, Korey Lee, has failed to offer the impression he’s prepared for a full-time job. The solely untouchable is Luis Robert.
Getz ought to have a busy offseason, and if he needs to win subsequent 12 months Reinsdorf should shell out some huge cash to pay without spending a dime brokers. Of course, the Sox may all the time go the opposite route and convey up children to compete for jobs. They couldn’t do a lot worse than this 12 months’s workforce, and if nobody goes to video games it shouldn’t matter in the event that they go right into a rebuild, even when they name it one thing else.
Grifol stated all of the prospects ought to be able to struggle for jobs subsequent spring, as Getz not too long ago steered.
“Why not? If there’s ever an opportunity to do that, this is it,” Grifol stated. “My suggestion, my advice to everybody who’s going to come to our camp next year in 2024, if they truly want to play in the big leagues, they’ve got to come in with that mindset because they’re going to have an opportunity to (play). They really are. We share a pretty similar — if not exact — vision on how we want to see this thing look next year. It’s pretty neat and cool to know that the general manager and the manager see things the same way and the style of baseball that we want to play.”
That type could be, properly, like the way in which Chris Getz performed, in response to Grifol.
“He was a smart player that ran the bases well and was as consistent as consistent could be,” Grifol stated. “That’s the kind of baseball he wants to see, and that’s the kind of baseball I want to see.”
That quote actually will look good in Grifol’s efficiency overview.
Getz was a gritty participant, however he hit .250 in a seven-year profession with three dwelling runs and a .616 OPS. If the Sox’s “vision” is to have a workforce filled with Getzes in 2024, they’re more likely to wind up in the identical place they’re in now.
Only 5 months stay till the beginning of spring coaching in Glendale, Ariz.
At least the Sox pitchers have a head begin on their PFPs.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com
