Pedro Grifol drew some comparisons between the Chicago White Sox and the Kansas City Royals within the run-up to their back-to-back World Series appearances.
“This crew jogs my memory of the place we have been at in ‘13,” said Grifol — the new Sox manager who was the Royals special assignment/hitting coach at the time — on Thursday. “It was a team that was extremely talented, but this team’s slightly extra superior as a result of this crew has gained greater than that crew had gained. This crew gained in 2020 and 2021 (making the playoffs each season). But they’re related.
“They believe, but they don’t really believe how good they are until somebody from the outside tells them, ‘You guys are really damn good.’ ”
For the 2014 Royals, that individual was Raúl Ibañez.
“It happened here in Chicago, we had just acquired Raúl Ibañez and he had a player meeting,” Grifol mentioned. “And he told the players, ‘I came from Anaheim and I want you to know one thing, you guys are really damn good and you don’t know how good you are.’”
After successful 86 video games and ending third within the American League Central in 2013, the Royals reached the World Series in ‘14, shedding to the San Francisco Giants in seven video games. The subsequent yr, the Royals gained the World Series — their first championship since 1985 — beating the New York Mets in 5 video games.
Grifol mentioned Ibañez’s phrases have been vital.
“That changed the atmosphere completely,” Grifol mentioned. “That’s the same with this team — we’re really good. We’ve just got to tighten up some things. And we’re going to do that.”
General supervisor Rick Hahn mentioned the hiring course of fleshed out a few of these areas of focus.
“It’s one thing to say we’re not fundamentally strong or defensively strong or we need to run the bases better, it’s good to hear a fresh perspective on how we’re going to go about improving those,” Hahn mentioned. “Those shortcomings weren’t for the dearth of expertise or lack of dedication from these coaches that will now not be a part of the workers.
“Hitting coach in particular … there comes a point when you need to make a change in that regard despite past success and talent of the individual, just because the message isn’t getting through anymore. Coming up with different ways to address that and to deliver a solid message, whether it’s tweaking the message or tweaking the drills and the prep work and how we prepare for an opponent, it was good to get fresh perspectives on that as well.”
Offensively, Grifol mentioned it would begin with speaking “that analytical language.”
“They’re going to understand what horizontal movement is, release point, release height,” Grifol mentioned. “Those are the issues that we have been doing in Kansas City that I strongly imagine in. Once we perceive that language and we all know the best way to assault these areas, it’s simply going to organize us. It’s going to higher put together us to have good at-bats, which is crucial factor.
“These guys are so talented and they’re so capable of doing special things at the plate, whether it’s (third baseman Yoán) Moncada going back to walking 80 times, that’s special. That’s a high on-base, that’s guys getting on base. So whatever it takes, we’re going to address all this stuff, we’re going to introduce new things to them and we’re going to hold each other accountable to make sure these things are executed.”
That strategy is the baseline.
“And then (the hitters) drive it to where they want to go,” Grifol mentioned. “There’s some guys that you just give them the baseline and so they take off with it and so they need as a lot as you can provide them. And then you definately’ve obtained different guys, you give them the baseline, you discuss the language, however they don’t need an excessive amount of. They simply need to carry out on the sphere, and we’ve had a couple of of these guys.
“But most of them, once they understand what we’re talking about and the language we’re talking about and how it can help them navigate an at-bat, most of them start wanting more over time. They’re not going to want it right away, but luckily for us we’re going to have time in spring training to be able to do that. Set that foundation and have them get some feedback and see how far we can take it individually.”
And after committing an AL-high 101 errors, the Sox know they should make strides defensively.
“I’m a stickler for defense,” Grifol mentioned. “I’ve seen it work, I’ve been a part of a company that simply prides itself in protection. I noticed us go to a World Series and win a championship taking part in protection and placing the ball in play and working the bases. It undoubtedly works in October.
“If you can pitch, which I know we can, and you have a good bullpen and you can catch the ball and put the ball in play and run the bases the way you’re supposed to, you’ve got a good chance of winning in October.”
()
Source: www.bostonherald.com