Pedro Grifol of the White Sox argues with umpires in the eighth inning of the game against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Grifol was ejected on April 22, 2024 in Minneapolis.
David Berding/Getty Images
MINNEAPOLIS – The White Sox are 3-22 after their 6-3 loss to the Twins Thursday.
Can this get any worse?
Manager Pedro Grifol knows his seat can get hot, regardless of recent votes of confidence from chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and general manager Chris Getz. He knows it comes with the job, but you wouldn’t know it judging from his demeanor before every game in Philadelphia and Minneapolis.
“I can only control the things I can control,” Grifol said Thursday. “That to me is coming to the ballpark, preparing this club to play a game and win a game. I can tell you I’ve had conversations, good conversations with Chris and I’ve had conversations with Jerry. Not about my job or job security or anything like that.”
Getz characterized his communications with his superiors as “good” through these bad times.
“I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I’m oblivious to our record and oblivious to things because I’m not,” Grifol said. “At the same time, I’m not going to concern myself with that. I know the job this staff is doing. I know the players, the effort they are putting in. I know the care, the want, the will to have success. I know the work that’s going on. That’s the only thing we can control.”
Grifol was dealt a difficult hand with a roster projected to lose 95-100 games, and that was before staff ace Dylan Cease was traded and before All-Star center fielder Luis Robert was injured, followed by third baseman Yoan Moncada. Eloy Jimenez was also injured.
It’s easy to fathom similar results with bench coach Charlie Montoya, who managed the Blue Jays from 2019-22, or Charlotte manager Justin Jirschele, or anyone else, at the helm. But managers have been fired with better records, and Grifol knows the scrutiny intensifies with each passing loss regardless.
“Of course,” he said.
Only a month into the second year of his three-year contract, Grifol has that going for him with an owner not known for eating money on such deals. At some point, though, something significant has to happen. Perhaps a DFA, or a change on the coaching staff.
The Sox are 11-43 in March and April under Grifol, and they lost 101 games in his first season, so the scrutiny is not new. Grifol, who inherited a team built to win last season, owns a record 64-123.
“Last year we went through it in the middle of the year,” he said. “I said it. This is on the manager. This is on me. It is what it is. It’s part of the job. You don’t take this job thinking ‘Oh, man. Maybe there’s pressure. Maybe there’s no pressure.’ You take the job knowing there’s pressure. It just comes with the job.”
Publicly, players put the record on themselves and say Grifol is not to blame. They have their own careers and performances to concern themselves with, but Grifol’s status has been a topic of conversation among them in recent days. They’re no different than interested parties outside the clubhouse.
But losing is becoming the norm in a clubhouse that is always upbeat before games and almost always dead quiet after, as it was again Thursday, is just another thing for Grifol to manage.
“I don’t think anybody gets used to losing, and if you do you’re in the wrong sport,” Grifol said. “You’re really in the wrong frame of mind, for that matter. Concerned? Only if I see signs that indicate defeat or lack of work, or care. But we haven’t seen any of that. We’ve seen the opposite, we’ve seen a really good response to the care, the work, the want. So I’m not concerned about that right now. But rest assured if I see something like that, I’ll take care of it.”