'No shortcuts': How Sox can look to '23 D-backs for inspiration

CHICAGO -- The 2023 Arizona Diamondbacks made a somewhat improbable run to the World Series before losing to the Rangers in five games.

But just two years before that run of excellence, Arizona finished at a painful and forgettable 52-110. Josh Barfield was there for part of ‘23 as Arizona’s director of player development, before joining the White Sox as assistant general manager under new general manager Chris Getz. He was there for the D-backs’ entire rough journey in ‘21.

So he can talk first-hand about a baseball team’s climb from oblivion to primetime in a relatively short period of time.

“That was a horrible stretch,” Barfield told MLB.com prior to Chicago’s 3-1 loss to the Blue Jays on Wednesday at Guaranteed Rate Field. “I want to say we set the record for most road losses. We went a month, and we won like two or three games.”

With a 9-18 record in May and one game left this month Friday in Milwaukee, there’s no getting around the White Sox being flat-out bad. They have lost eight straight and have a 1-12 record in their last 13, all of which happened to be against AL East opponents.

Their 15-42 start is the worst in franchise history -- by three games over the 2018 White Sox -- and their 0-7 showing this past week against the Orioles and Blue Jays is the first time they’ve ever gone winless in a homestand of seven-plus games, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Korey Lee’s fifth home run, coming off Jordan Romano with two outs in the ninth, avoided an 11th shutout for the White Sox.

This sort of dismal showing began with a 3-22 stretch in April, but the White Sox continued struggles illustrate there are no easy answers to solve this now two-year problem.

“There’s no magic remedy here. The remedy here is you know what? Let’s get ready to work again in Milwaukee. That’s it,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “There’s no magic wand here to where it’s, ‘OK, now we are going to start to hit.’

“It’s about work. It’s about preparing, working. These guys are not afraid to sweat, not afraid to get after it. We have to continue to get after it. As far as the statistics and the history of this team and what we are doing, I’m not really focused on that. I’m focused on where we are at and where we gotta go.”

A light does exist among this darkness, and Barfield has witnessed it. The 2021 Arizona squad stood at 15-13 on May 2, but by the time they hit July 4, they were 23-63. The Diamondbacks finished 74-88 in ‘22 and put together a late run just to get to the playoffs in ‘23.

For the current state of the White Sox, it’s all about searching for positives wherever they exist.

“I was telling somebody the other day this feels eerily similar to where we were a couple of years ago,” Barfield said. “Some of the feelings in the clubhouse and in the suite after games, after some of these tough losses, as they start mounting up.

“Knowing that you are never as far away as you think either, trying to keep the big picture, in that we knew this wasn’t going to be a quick fix. We knew we weren’t going to come in here and immediately turn this thing around. There are positives even in the darkest times [we] are in right now.”

Garrett Crochet’s emergence as a front-end starter, Michael Kopech’s showing as a solid closer, Lee’s development behind the plate and some of the Minor League standouts are a few of those positives pointed out by Barfield. Now, the White Sox have to identify who remains at this core with the Trade Deadline approaching, and figure out if Grifol and his staff are the people to lead the team hopefully into that next level.

Develop the young players. Draft well. Add key veterans when the time is right. It seemed to serve the Diamondbacks well, at least for ‘23, and Barfield hopes history repeats itself.

“There are no shortcuts,” Barfield said. “You can’t fast forward through it, but just knowing we are not as far away as it feels.”

“We're still doing early BP,” said White Sox starter Chris Flexen, who allowed two runs in five innings with six strikeouts Wednesday. “Guys are continuing to get their work, go through their routines and show up every day to compete.”