(Audacy) First-year White Sox manager Pedro Grifol was hired last offseason to help end to the problems that were preventing the club from reaching its potential.
Thus far, he hasn’t changed the White Sox's fortunes, as they sit at 31-42 after losing a series to the Mariners over the weekend. Clearly, that frustration is weighing on Grifol, who lashed out at a fair question Sunday about why slugger Jake Burger was hitting eighth. Whether he was annoyed about the line of questioning or something else is unclear, but Grifol snapped back with an answer that oddly invoked owner Jerry Reinsdorf.
The testiness was intriguing -- and it's worth noting Burger only got three at-bats in the loss -- in the mind of New York Post and Audacy Sports insider Jon Heyman.
“That frustration really showed,” Heyman said on the Mully & Haugh Show on Monday morning. “He had Burger batting eighth, I really don’t know what to make of that other than he’s frustrated. I don’t know if he’s frustrated with his bosses or the questions or what, but it wasn’t a great look. He’s supposed to be a disciplinarian, probably should show some discipline on his own. It’s nice we got a window into his frustration, but I would say if this year doesn’t turn around, he could be one-and-done.”
The White Sox are rapidly approaching an uncomfortable position. They’ve been bad but remain in the playoff hunt because the AL Central has also been underwhelming. The White Sox have enough pieces to do well at the trade deadline if they sell, and blowing the current group up might not be the worst idea.
No matter what direction general manager Rick Hahn takes with the team, Heyman believes Grifol will at least avoid getting canned during the season.
“I would say they’re giving him the year likely," Heyman said. "But among the managers, I would say (Oli) Marmol is probably in greater trouble, based on the expectations in St. Louis and the performance of that team. But (Grifol) cannot be in great standing at this point. They have underachieved immensely.
“I know I say this every show, but they should be a decent team, they really should, and they have not been. I’m sure he’s frustrated, I’m sure he’s probably hearing it from his bosses, somebody above, this is probably a window into that. So from that perspective, I guess that was good, but he really shouldn’t be saying stuff like that.”
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