The Chicago White Sox might just be a bad baseball team right now. That is a very fair assumption to make at this point of the season based on their 5-9 start.
They also have let some wins get away which is never something you like to see. Pedro Grifol, although it is not even close to being all his fault, has done a bad job of managing the bullpen.
The Chicago White Sox had a 3-0 lead over the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night and they carried it all the way into the 7th inning before things went bad on them.
Mike Clevinger allowed 5 walks but he didn’t allow any runs to cross the plate which is ultimately his job. Sure, those 5 walks are bad but he did allow just one hit on top of that which isn’t bad at all.
The Chicago White Sox let their bullpen blow the game for them again.
After six good innings from Clevinger, however, Grifol went to his favorite pitcher Jake Diekman. To be honest, that lost the White Sox the game because Diekman is horrible.
As expected, he allowed the Baltimore Orioles back in the game before Reynaldo Lopez let them take the lead for good.
When down 4-3, Jimmy Lambert then let two score for a 6-3 Orioles lead. That is one really good team in Baltimore that knows how to be clutch when things matter most. The White Sox are nothing like them.
Guys like Jake Diekman have no business being on this team anymore. It is Rick Hahn’s fault that Diekman is there in the first place and now he needs to do something to change it and fast.
It is, as mentioned before, also on Pedro Grifol to make sure that he isn’t using him all that often. The entire situation is a recipe for disaster.
Grifol should also let Jake Burger continue to hit throughout the whole game. Matchups should not keep Burger from extra at-bats because he has been one of the best hitters on this team during his call-up from AAA.
Again, this might just be the White Sox in 2023. They continue to hurt themselves both on and off the field. This was seen as a series that is a must-win for a variety of reasons so we can only hope that everybody turns it around. Don't count on it though.