4 things to watch for as the Chicago White Sox begin the 2023 season, including fresh faces on the roster
Oscar Colás and Gavin Sheets crushed a number of pitches during batting practice.
Yoán Moncada got in the necessary drills, including fielding and baserunning.
Luis Robert Jr. and Eloy Jiménez tracked down fly balls.
Those were some of the sights Wednesday as the Chicago White Sox worked out at Minute Maid Park ahead of Thursday’s season opener against the Houston Astros.
The Sox enter the season with new manager Pedro Grifol and are aiming to bounce back after finishing at .500 in 2022.
“Our expectations are extremely high, and that doesn’t change based on whether we’re sitting here now coming off a year where we underachieved or a year ago when everybody throughout baseball is picking us to run away with the division and potentially make some noise deep into October,” general manager Rick Hahn said after the workout.
“We are going to be in a much better position to control what we can control on a daily basis and we’re eager to get going.”
Here are four things to watch as the 2023 season gets underway.
1. Grifol’s time has come.
Grifol anticipates having family and “a ton of friends” in attendance Thursday.
After various roles in the Seattle Mariners organization and then a variety of positions on the Kansas City Royals staff, Grifol’s big-league managerial career begins with the nationally televised game against the Astros (6:08 p.m., ESPN).
“My wife and my kids, they’re the reason I’m here,” Grifol said Wednesday. “And extended family as well. It’s been a community effort to get to where I’m at right here.”
Hahn said he “could not be happier where we are at right now from a staffing standpoint.”
“(Grifol has) delivered on every expectations we’ve had ranging from communication to the inclusivity to the focus,” Hahn said. “It’s been fantastic.
“This is the big leagues, and we all get evaluated on ultimately wins and losses once (Thursday) starts. So we haven’t had the most important element yet, but everything leading up to it has been matched or exceeded our very high expectations for that role. He’s been fantastic.”
While Thursday is a first for Grifol, he made clear the day isn’t about him.
“It’s about these players,” Grifol said, “the work they put in, the goals they want to achieve, the goals they have.”
2. Several players, including Yoán Moncada and Yasmani Grandal, look to bounce back.
Injuries were a big part of the disappointing 81-81 2022 season.
Regulars missing time during the year included Tim Anderson, Yasmani Grandal, Robert, Jiménez and Moncada. Moncada and Grandal are among those looking to return to form offensively.
Moncada, who slashed .212/.273/.353 in 104 games last season, had an impressive World Baseball Classic and earned All-Tournament honors.
“He’s been really working hard,” hitting coach José Castro said Monday in Mesa, Ariz. “We worked on a couple of things. More lower-half stuff, staying behind the swing more. We like where he’s at.”
Grandal, who slashed .202/.301/.269 in 99 games last season, had a strong camp.
“I like where his swing is at,” Castro said. “Keep him fresh and I think he’s going to be a good force.”
The Sox enter the season relatively healthy with Moncada active after being slowed recently by lower-back stiffness. Additions such as Andrew Benintendi and a full season of Elvis Andrus lengthen the lineup.
3. Fresh faces on the roster include Colás.
Colás was one of the most talked about players during camp. The second-ranked prospect in the organization according to MLB.com, Colás earned a roster spot with a spring that included slashing .258/.279/.424 with three homers and six RBIs.
“Oscar was great, and not just from a performance standpoint but from the standpoint of being extremely coachable and responding to any feedback that he got from Pedro and his staff,” Hahn said.
Completing the roster, Hahn also announced adding Gregory Santos to the bullpen while infielder Hanser Alberto and infielder/outfielder Romy Gonzalez will provide depth, along with catcher Seby Zavala and the outfielder/first baseman Sheets.
“We had to make some tough choices, send some players we know are going to help us over the course of the season to the minors,” Hahn said. “Guys like Jake Burger, who had a heck of a camp, Adam Haseley had a wonderful camp. We’re certainly confident that at some point those guys will be contributing to us in Chicago.”
Hahn announced the Sox were cutting ties with infielder/outfielder Leury García, who signed a three-year, $16.5 million contract before the 2022 season.
“The message from (Chairman) Jerry Reinsdorf was clear that we need to go with the best 26 to put us in the best position to win this year, even if in the end, as was the case with Leury, it wound up with us having to eating some sunk cost on the contract,” Hahn said. “Leury García’s going to help a team at some point this year win.”
4. Which direction will the team go for the final 3 outs?
Hahn shared a positive update on closer Liam Hendriks, who announced in January he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
“He remains in treatment, he still has some work ahead of him, however he is making very good progress,” Hahn said. He noted the team didn’t place Hendriks on the 60-day injured list.
“And that is on purpose,” Hahn said. “Hopefully at some point in April, toward the end of April, I’ll be able to get a little bit more specific for a potential timeline for his return.”
The Sox won’t have one set person filling in.
“(Grifol has) got a lot of options down there, whether it’s (Kendall) Graveman, who has had the most recent closing experience, Joe Kelly has done some, (Aaron) Bummer, or even Reynaldo López, who has looked fantastic over the course of spring,” Hahn said. “Not having a set closer per se on opening day does free Pedro up a little bit to mix and match and play leverage situations.
“He’s got multiple quality late-inning options and he’s going to be free to deploy them however he wishes each day.”
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