Another day, another loss. The Chicago White Sox lost the first game of the series with the Tampa Bay Rays Friday night in gut-wrenching fashion as Brandon Lowe hit a walk-off home run off Reynaldo Lopez, giving them the 8-7 victory.
The White Sox have fallen to a miserable 7-13 record while the Rays improved to 17-3 and strengthened their best record in baseball even more.
Like it has all year for the White Sox, the pitching was a significant issue. Kopech battled but didn't have it going for him.
Reynaldo Lopez gave up two home runs in the ninth as well which led to the loss. Until the White Sox find a way to get opposing hitters out consistently, they will not be winning many baseball games.
With Friday night's loss, it brings up the same question that fans have been asking themselves over the last two years, is it time to finally give up on the Chicago White Sox?
The Chicago White Sox just might not be a good team here in 2023.
Offensively, they have been better than last year's awful performance but they still haven't found a way to hit the baseball out of the ballpark on a daily basis.
Luis Robert Jr., Andrew Vaughn, Eloy Jimenez, and Yasmani Grandal have combined for eight home runs, and Robert Jr. has five of them. The White Sox will not win baseball games when they are 17th in the MLB in home runs.
The pitching has been the main focus of this devastating start so far. They are 29th in baseball in team ERA with a 5.61. They are also 29th in WHIP with a 1.58 and they are 25th in BAA as they allow opposing batters to hit .266 off of them.
White Sox pitching has also already given up 28 long balls as a staff. They aren't getting the job done and until they figure it out, it will remain an embarrassing season just like it was in 2022. At this rate, 2023 might be even worse.
Skipper Pedro Grifol hasn't proved anything as an MLB manager through the first 20 games either. His confidence and mindset before the start of the year have turned into a massive pile of nothing.
His bullpen management has been questionable, his post-game interviews have felt non-serious, and overall, he already seems defeated.
The White Sox have battled in close games all season and that's not going unnoticed. At some point, they have to start winning them to get the positive acknowledgment they want.
The 2023 season could potentially be in major jeopardy by the end of their April schedule and thus far, the White Sox haven't proved anything from what they learned last year. It's been a rather shameful start and it will only get worse if their play on the field stays the same.
So while it may not necessarily be time to quit on them, it can be within the not-to-distant future.