The White Sox need to get better managing otherwise their stay in the playoffs is going to be short.
The Chicago White Sox are in a world of pain right now. The Cleveland Indians just swept them in a four-game series to put themselves in a nice position to jump the White Sox with a chance at the division title. It is still a matter of three teams (Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins) all within two games of the crown but the White Sox have been awful for five straight games.
The bats need to come back to life but it is clear that there is an even bigger problem with this team right now. They are getting bad managing from Rick Renteria. He has put them in a position to lose a couple of times this season but it has been extra noticeable this week. In particular, one awful decision made this series finale against Cleveland a game the White Sox were not able to win.
In the 7th inning with the bases loaded and two outs, Rick Renteria decided to call upon Carlos Rodon. Rodon, who hasn’t pitched at all since early August, made a relief appearance for the first time since 2015. In no way should Rodon be the guy to be pitching in that spot. Not on this team with that pressure. There are so many other good options for the White Sox to use and they decided to go with Rodon who is a starter and hasn’t played in over a month.
These types of decisions are going to force the White Sox to make a change if he doesn’t get better. You already have guys like Ozzie Guillen and Frank Thomas calling it out in post-game shows and online so the pressure is on. Whenever two pillars of your organization like that have that hard of a stance, you know there is an issue.
This isn’t doomsday for the White Sox as they could get swept by the Cubs and still be going to the playoffs. The thing is, it would be nice to see them win the division or at the very least come in second and host the first round at home. Rick Renteria better figure things out otherwise he is going to be watching the rest of the playoffs from home and potentially without a job.