White Sox Show Fight Under Sizemore, But Execution Issues Persist

Despite the White Sox having a different guy filling out the lineup card, some things have remained the same in the post-Pedro Grifol era. On Tuesday the White Sox clinched their 14th consecutive series loss and fell to 0-74 on the season when trailing after seven innings. 

Interim manager Grady Sizemore continued to stress the importance of playing “clean baseball” following the White Sox 4-1 loss to the Giants at Oracle Park. As Sizemore put it “There’s never margin for error.” 

The White Sox have been within striking distance in eight of their last ten games under Sizemore’s watch. Unfortunately, they only have two wins to show for it. The average margin of defeat has been just 3.25 runs. That total is inflated by a 10-2 loss to the Yankees back on August 14, a game in which the White Sox held a 2-1 lead heading into the seventh inning. 

It’s hard to question the effort after seeing Luis Robert  Jr., a player who is so frustrated about the way the season has gone that he admitted he thought about quitting, hustling down the line on a ground ball for an infield single. However, playing hard doesn’t automatically translate into winning baseball. Mistakes that have plagued the White Sox all season have continued to be an issue. 

On Tuesday Lenyn Sosa had a ball ricochetted off his glove for a single, allowing the first run of the game to score in the second inning. Miguel Vargas opened the bottom of the third inning with an error on what should have been a routine out. That error would come back to bite White Sox starter Davis Martin who walked in a run after issuing back-to-back free passes. 

There is only so much the manager can do. Sizemore can’t go out there and hit and field for these guys. But he can try to set a new standard. That is easier said than done when pride and job security are one of the only motivating factors for the rest of the season. The White Sox’s level of mediocrity has reached uncharted territory. They will likely have triple-digit losses before the calendar turns to September. A demoralizing 162-game slog like this could result in some lingering effects. It’s easy to form bad habits as a player when you come into work every day knowing you are outgunned. 

The White Sox must go 13-22 in the last 35 games of the season to avoid reaching the 1962 Mets record of 120 losses in a season. But at this point the win-loss record is irrelevant. Effort and execution are what the team should be graded on the rest of the way. So far the effort has been there. The execution just needs to get a little more consistent. But as the White Sox have proven, that won’t be an easy fix.