White Sox make coaching changes around Grifol

CHICAGO -- Pedro Grifol’s coaching staff with the White Sox will have a different look in his second season as manager.

Hitting coach Jose Castro and first base coach Daryl Boston will not return in 2024, while bullpen coach Curt Hasler and assistant hitting coach Chris Johnson have been offered positions in the White Sox player development system. Chicago officially announced the news Friday.

Grifol would not commit to any changes when asked during his final 2023 pregame interview session on Oct. 1, but he hinted at the possibility.

“It's a very sensitive issue,” Grifol said. “When you talk about the staff, you talk about people that have been here for a long, long time.

“Unfortunately, this is a game that's predicated on wins and losses, so obviously, every year this is a tough time of the year for staff. We'll talk more about that in the next few days. Right now, I don't want to share anything.”

With the move of Castro, the White Sox will have their third hitting coach in three seasons with Frank Menechino holding the job in 2022. The team also will move on to its fourth primary hitting coach since ‘19, when Todd Steverson’s run beginning in ‘14 came to a close.

Johnson was in his first year as assistant hitting coach after serving two years as the hitting coach for Triple-A Charlotte. Castro had spent the last eight seasons as assistant hitting coach for the Atlanta Braves before coming to the White Sox.

The White Sox ranked second-to-last in the American League with a .675 OPS, .238 average and 641 runs scored and sat last with a .291 on-base percentage and 377 walks. They were the only team in baseball to draw less than 400 free passes.

Hasler has been a well-respected pitching coach in the White Sox organization for 33 years, with the last seven being on the Major League staff. The White Sox have been without an official Minor League pitching coordinator since Everett Teaford left in-season to become the pitching coach at Auburn, although Matt Zaleski, one of the White Sox assistant pitching coordinators, has been capably filling that role.

Zaleski also spent part of September with the White Sox. Boston served as the White Sox first-base coach for 11 seasons, having spent 26 years as a coach in the organization. Boston also worked with the outfielders, with the charismatic 60-year-old having started with the White Sox as the seventh pick overall in the 1981 Draft. He played from 1984-89 with the White Sox, and had one at-bat with them in ‘90.

Chris Getz, the new White Sox general manager, already has brought in assistant general manager Josh Barfield, senior advisor to pitching Brian Bannister and director of player personnel Gene Watson as front office additions.

“We believe in a lot of the same things. We have a very similar background,” Barfield said. “Not only playing but working our way up in scouting and player development up the ladder. There was a lot of comfort.

“When you come into a new situation, it’s always a little uneasy. But when you are working for a guy that you really believe in, it makes it a lot easier.”