If one thought that things couldn't get any worse for the Chicago White Sox, they would be mistaken as the team seems to keep finding ways to take steps backward without any indication of that coming to an end soon.
The White Sox created a laundry list of issues to deal with before this season even began. From finishing a disappointing.500 last year to canceling SoxFest to the controversy over the signing of pitcher Mike Clevinger, the White Sox couldn't seem to do anything right.
The hope was that under new leadership in manager Pedro Grifol, things would change and the team would get back to being the team they were in 2021 when they won the American League Central division.
But that has been far from the case. In fact, some of the same problems the team experienced last season such as injuries to key players and a lack of depth on the roster have carried over to this year.
However, it is worse now than it was in 2022. It is highlighted by the team seeing their pitcher Lance Lynn tossed six no-hit innings before the club fell apart like a house of cards and allowed the Rays to put up 10 runs in the seventh inning leading to a 12-2 victory on Saturday.
As if that debacle wasn't bad enough, center fielder Luis Robert Jr. was pulled from Saturday's game in the second inning after it appeared he didn't give full effort to beat out an infield grounder.
The White Sox continue to have bad performance after bad performance.
Following the game, Robert admitted to having tired legs because he hustled a lot down the line Friday night which contributed to having a sore right hamstring.
Due to the hamstring, Robert opted to play, by his own admission, "conservatively" so as to not create further injury. To compound the problem, he didn't tell the coaching staff out of fear he would not be put into the game.
Even sadder (or funnier depending on how you look at it) is the fact manager Pedro Grifol put together a two-game ejection streak before the team has even won back-to-back games.
That seems to sum up how the season has gone for the White Sox to this point and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight for the hurdles this team has placed in front of itself.
The hole this team has dug is cavernous and even the biggest of optimists has to admit a miracle is needed to get into contention after starting 13 games under .500 through the first 29 games.
Should one want to say there is still a lot of baseball left to play and time to get things right, consider this: since 2015, the White Sox have only posted two seven-game win streaks and 10 losing streaks of six or more games.
They have managed to put up a six-game losing streak at least once each year during that time frame, including losing eight in a row on two separate occasions in 2022 and dropping six in a row twice in 2021.
Injuries have played a part in the team not having won a series by the end of April but that excuse only goes so far. A lack of performing to their capabilities coupled with a poorly constructed roster has been the main culprit.
This free-swinging, defensively deficient, pitching-troubled team has not shown much in the way of correcting its mistakes and playing fundamentally sound baseball.
The White Sox are fast-tracking themselves into becoming sellers before the trade deadline hits. Don't be shocked to start seeing articles popping up about the White Sox looking to deal soon if things don't do an abrupt about-face.
Executive president Kenny Williams and general manager Rick Hahn have each come out over the last few days and sobbed to the media about their disappointment in the team and how jobs (including each of theirs) are on the line should things not get turned around.
But this is a Jerry Reinsdorf owned operation and loyal employees such as Williams and Hahn seem to stick around in their positions despite how much water the ship may take on.
If Hahn were to go, the possibility of assistant general manager/player development Chris Getz stepping in would lead one to believe there would be little in the way of change and a continuation of business as usual.
Getz's hiring would not be the type of thing that would energize a fan base looking for a new direction.
The White Sox are free-falling without a parachute and no visible means of preventing the inevitable right now. While not impossible to get things righted, it is becoming more improbable by the day.
A team can't win the World Series in April but the White Sox are becoming the poster child for a team who can lose one.