Amid early 'trying times,' Sox remaining positive

CHICAGO -- Any hope built off the White Sox victory Tuesday night over the Phillies was quickly tempered by a rather quiet 5-2 loss Wednesday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The South Siders ended a six-game homestand against the Orioles and Phillies with a 2-4 mark, dropping to 7-12 overall. Here’s a look at three takeaways from the series finale and the squad’s overall start to the 2023 campaign.

A middling start
As has been said many times before, the record doesn’t lie. So, in fact, the White Sox are a good piece below mediocre at this early stage of the season. They have an 0-5-1 record in series, having lost five straight series, and have yet to win two straight games.

It’s not an overly encouraging picture. But -- and there is a but in here -- there still is a long way to go. It’s also a group that hasn’t lost confidence through this slow beginning.

“Every team I’ve ever been on, or a part of, you have streaks like this,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “Whether it’s at the start, middle, end. I’m not frustrated with these guys. I trust these guys. I trust the work they are putting in. We just have to keep going, keep battling.”

“It's been some really trying times, but this resilience is where you build some character,” said White Sox starting and losing pitcher Mike Clevinger. “It's the sentiment throughout this clubhouse with everyone, the passion we have in here, to win and compete, it's through the roof.”

Clevinger made two mistakes in the first two innings against the Phillies, and they went for solo home runs from Trea Turner and Brandon Marsh. He looked to be on his game at 31 pitches through the first two, only to give up the lead and have his afternoon end following a 44-pitch third.

Grifol felt Clevinger couldn’t return to the mound after throwing 44 pitches. Clevinger wanted to keep pitching, but understood the call.

“They definitely had a good gameplan,” Clevinger said. “Some things didn't go my way, some things fell in the hole and extended the inning. But they were putting up a few good ABs.”

Through 19 games, the White Sox haven’t put things together. Part of the reason is missing talented energy producers such as Tim Anderson and Yoán Moncada to injury. But, as has been said many times over the past few weeks, when they hit, they struggle with the bullpen or pitching overall. Or when they get a good pitching effort, they don’t hit.

“You know it will turn around,” Grifol said. “That’s all I can say. It will turn around.”

Business is picking up
The White Sox will be looking to turn things around against two of the American League’s best in the Rays and Blue Jays. Their next six-game road trip has stops in St. Petersburg and Toronto, followed by a four-game home set against the Rays and three at home against the Twins for good measure.

“It’s definitely a challenge,” Grifol said. “But we gotta play baseball. It doesn’t matter who we are playing against. A Major League Baseball game is a Major League Baseball game. We just have to go out there and prepare and compete.”

General manager Rick Hahn praised the Rays’ 13-0 start to the season when asked about Tampa Bay during his homestand-opening press conference this past Friday. He didn’t lose sight of the job at hand, though, while talking about the Rays.

“Extremely impressive start. It’s the start all of us dream of, year in and year out,” Hahn said. “... They annually deserve a ton of respect and it’s great to see them getting national attention this early this season."

With a 40-50 record at home since the start of the 2022 season, a White Sox road challenge might be what’s needed.

Vaughn can hit
Concerns about Andrew Vaughn’s lack of home run power were erased when he homered in the first inning Wednesday. He’s reached base in every game but one this season and leads the team with 14 RBIs.

“If I’m chasing results, it’s not going to happen at all,” Vaughn said before Wednesday’s loss. “If I’m trying to hit home runs, stuff is going to start going out of whack. I just want to stay simple.”