2 ways Grifol has been better than La Russa and 1 way he's been the same

There are two ways that Pedro Grifol has been better than Tony La Russa.

1. Lineups

The lineups haven't been perfect so far from Pedro Grifol but we also don't know what is perfect just yet as the season is still so young.

It would be nice to see Andrew Benintendi out of the three-hole. He is not a power-hitting run producer so it just seems weird to keep him there.

However, that is not as egregious as having Leury Garcia batting second or first. Grifol won't be set in his ways either. Unlike the manager before him, it is obvious that Grifol will make adjustments when necessary. Again, it hasn't been perfect but it's been an improvement.

2. Good vibes

The vibes were awful under Tony La Russa. The team looked like they didn't want to be there on most days, they didn't work hard for their coach, and it seemed like a very lethargic group.

That has not been the case for Pedro Grifol's crew. We don't know for sure if he is a good manager or not yet but we do know that the players enjoy playing for him so far.

We have seen good effort from everyone all the time no matter what. That is a sign that as the players start to get their legs going even more, they can combine that with a tremendous effort which will allow them to win more baseball games than they did last year.

You saw the vibes get better with Miguel Cairo at the end of 2022 but it was too little too late. Now, they have something to work with here in 2023 with Pedro Grifol.