Word around the visitors clubhouse before the White Sox opened a daunting three-game series with the Braves was “reset.”
Word from manager Pedro Grifol Saturday was “focus.” And attention to detail. He hasn’t seen enough of it from a team with the fourth worst record in baseball going into its game Saturday against the Braves, the team with the best.
“We’re not as detailed as I want to be,” Grifol said before the Sox faced the Braves [61-29] Saturday night. “We’re not as focused as I want to be. Those are things that we have to get better at. Pretty simple. That starts with me. I’m responsible for that.”
Grifol was asked if he has seen the attention to detail he wants from his players.
“No, no, no, no,” the first-year manager said. “We have to get better at that. That’s something we’ve spoken about individually. I have conversations with these guys. I don’t like doing too much team stuff. I do have a lot of individual conversations on things we need to get better at. I have a lot of meetings with our coaches on things we need to address.”
When general manager Rick Hahn introduced Grifol as the replacement for Tony La Russa on Nov. 4, he said the Sox were “taking a major step to putting ourselves back on track towards the trajectory we were on in previous seasons following last season’s [81-81] disappointment.”
He described Grifol, the Royals bench coach the previous three seasons, as “a renowned communicator and modern baseball mind who is seeking to build a cohesive and inclusive clubhouse environment and one where attention to detail and accountability will be priorities.”
Grifol pledged the Sox would be fundamentally sound, control the strike zone on both sides of the ball and earn the trust of fans. Sox pitchers lead the majors in strikeouts but Sox hitters’ chase rate is second worst behind the Tigers and their walk rate is the worst. Defense was stressed during spring training but the Sox near the bottom of most runs-saved metrics.
In what was thought to be the thick of their contention window following a rebuild, the Sox were a season low 17 games below .500 with 69 left to play.
The Sox have as many or more hitters and pitchers meetings than anyone. Grifol meets with his coaches all the time. He said improvement must come on the field and before the game.
“We’ve got to continue to address [attention to detail and focus],” Grifol said. “I’ve got to continue to address it with our coaches and we’ve got to pass it on to our players and we all have to hold each other accountable for it.”
The players talked “reset” on the first day back from All-Star break.
“It’s a good reset. Everyone needed a little break, a little gathering,” right-hander Mike Clevinger said. “Everyone seems really happy to be back, which is good to see.”
Closer Liam Hendriks, alongside Clevinger on the injured list but traveling with and working out daily with the team, also pushed the “reset” button.
“Our first half wasn’t exactly the way we envisioned it,” Hendriks said. “We still have a shot [they were eight games out of first place]. It’s not as if it’s an unclimbable mountain we have to scale. But it’s going to be a lot of hard work coming back and being able to get into this. Hopefully I can get back sooner than later and put in my two cents worth and hopefully help us get over the line.”
The Sox then went out and got shut out by the Braves, mustering five singles, and were out of it quickly when right-hander Michael Kopech allowed four runs in the first inning, an inning he didn’t finish.
“Obviously we wanted to come back after the break and set a tone,” Kopech said. “Change the pace a little bit. I wasn’t able to do that.”
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