White Sox eager to turn page on 'gut-wrenching' April 

CHICAGO -- There are a number of things manager Pedro Grifol likes about his 2024 White Sox.

He likes how they are playing as a whole and he likes the collective energy of the group, as a couple of examples.

What he doesn’t like is the dismal 6-24 overall record, following a 6-5 loss to the Twins on Tuesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field. Actually, nobody is happy with those results.

“We have to find ways to win those ballgames,” Grifol said. “We just have to grow. We have to continue to improve.”

April was a cruel month during the 2023 season, which marked Grifol’s first at the helm, although it featured an 8-21 stretch that ended on a high note with a seven-run ninth-inning rally to beat the Rays. That team had loftier expectations attached to its season, compared to the start of a rebuild in ‘24.

That change of focus still doesn’t make current numbers any easier to stomach.

Tuesday’s setback dropped the White Sox to 0-6 against the Twins this year, and 1-13 vs. Minnesota dating back to May 4, 2023.

Their record against the American League Central, in which some in the organization saw a path to competitiveness due to the lack of a dominant frontrunner, dipped to 2-17.

In series play, the White Sox are 1-8-1. In one-run games, they fell to 3-8 overall.

“Those are gut-wrenching, they really are,” said White Sox first baseman Andrew Vaughn of the nailbiting losses. “You’ve got to keep going.”

"Unfortunately things have just not gone our way,” third baseman Danny Mendick said. “Hopefully this is not how it's going to continue. Hopefully, we can be on the positive side where we just close them out and score some runs and we win the game. That's where we want to be."

Mendick homered to give the White Sox a 4-2 lead in the fifth, his first since returning to the White Sox after launching eight home runs in 60 at-bats with Triple-A Charlotte. Andrew Benintendi's solo blast leading off the eighth, his third since Saturday, tied the score at five.

Signs of hope do exist, especially for an offense that was held scoreless eight times during April. They have nine home runs over their last eight games, and have recorded eight-plus hits in eight of the last nine contests.

"The feel has been great. In the clubhouse and everything, it's been awesome,” Mendick said. “The energy is high for where we're at in the season. Moving forward there's a lot of baseball left.

“Things this month have been kind of tough. But like I said, the energy is high and that's really all you need to turn things around. Hopefully we can prove what we're about."

Admittedly, some of that White Sox hope rests with players in their Minor League system, ranked No. 20 by MLB Pipeline while still having a number of players on the rise. Paul Janish, the team’s first-year director of player development, discussed numerous prospects and highlighted a Double-A Birmingham team off to a 15-7 start in the Southern League for 20 minutes prior to the White Sox loss.

Players from that group could be helping the White Sox at some point during the 2024 campaign. But having the worst record in baseball through April won’t change the thinking of those in development.

“It's a long-term plan of, ‘This is who we are, this is the type of baseball that we play. This is what's expected,’” Janish said. “Establishing a bunch of that stuff with a bunch of new faces on the player development side is really important."

The White Sox held a 2-0 lead early on Tuesday, with starter Michael Soroka holding Minnesota hitless through the first four innings. Chicago then had a 4-2 lead after five innings, and a 4-3 lead through seven. There were chances to put the game away, just as there have been on a number of occasions in April.

Yes, Grifol appreciates a number of intangibles connected to this team. But they need to be better in the results category -- decidedly better.

“We’ve hit some hard patches,” Vaughn said. “It felt like we have been in most of the games we’ve played in. We are playing competitively. We have to keep building.”

“You've got to have fun too,” Mendick said. “It is a job, don't get me wrong, but when you have fun with your teammates, that's when you have a good team.”