Final 2 months 'critical' for White Sox growth, Clevinger

CLEVELAND -- About two hours before first pitch on Friday, White Sox manager Pedro Grifol talked about the future of the club.

While the White Sox entered play a season-worst 24 games below .500, Grifol stressed how “critical” the next two months are for the White Sox in terms of cleaning up their play and working on fundamentals, especially when it comes to putting together good at-bats.

The third inning of Chicago’s 4-2 loss to the Guardians at Progressive Field showed some of the progress Grifol’s team has made in that department -- but also how much more room there is to improve.

With Guardians starter Logan Allen struggling with his command in the third inning (he entered Friday’s start averaging 3.1 walks per nine innings), the Sox tied the game at 2 on the back of three walks in the frame (including Andrew Benintendi's bases-loaded free pass) and an RBI double from Elvis Andrus. Chicago seemed primed to break the game open with a bases-loaded, no-out situation with the heart of the batting order coming up.

But then the rally ended almost as quickly as it started with back-to-back strikeouts from Luis Robert Jr. and Andrew Vaughn and a groundout from Yoán Moncada. Two innings later, the Guardians took the lead and the White Sox bats went silent the rest of the way.

“We had a good opportunity there. We drew some walks and showed some patience, but we also chased,” Grifol said. “Those are the things we need to continue to work on and get better at. We [weren't] the one in trouble. He [was].

“We let him off the hook.”

Chicago’s next best scoring opportunity came in the eighth inning when Benintendi and Robert opened with back-to-back singles against Trevor Stephan. However, that rally also fizzled out after Vaughn struck out and Moncada grounded into an inning-ending double play.

“We just couldn’t muster anything,” Grifol said.

While starter Mike Clevinger admitted he didn’t have his best stuff on Friday, he was able to battle through five innings in his second start back from the injured list. In 53 appearances (45 starts) at Progressive Field as a member of the Guardians from 2016-20, Clevinger tallied a 2.94 ERA in 272 2/3 innings. His two trips to the mound as a visitor haven’t been as fruitful.

In Clevinger’s first start as a visitor last season, he labored through the third inning and ended up only going 4 2/3 innings while with the San Diego Padres.

On Friday, his troubles started earlier.

In the first inning, a one-out double from Andrés Giménez led to a run-scoring single from Clevinger’s old teammate, José Ramírez. An inning later, the Guardians tacked on a run when he uncorked a changeup that went 56 feet, bounced in front of home plate and hit the backstop, which allowed Myles Straw to score from third.

After allowing Straw to score on the wild pitch, Clevinger danced around trouble in the third and fourth inning. Oscar Gonzalez tagged him for a one-out triple in the third, but he was able to strand him, and he allowed a leadoff single to Brayan Rocchio in the fourth, but he was thrown out at second base after replay overturned the inital safe call.

“He did a really good job of pitching in that third inning,” Grifol said. “He did a good job working with what he had."

The big blow came an inning later when Giménez launched a two-run home run on a fastball that wasn’t elevated enough.

In total, Clevinger allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits in five innings of work against his former club. His eight hits allowed are tied for the fourth-most he’s allowed in a start at Progressive Field.

These next two months are crucial for Clevinger as well, as the 32-year-old has a $12 million mutual option for next season that has a $4 million buyout. While he has a 3.72 ERA (which would be his lowest since 2020), he also missed a month and a half with biceps inflammation. He’ll need to pitch his best over the next two months to prove to the White Sox that he can be a part of their plan for the 2024 season.

“Pedro’s reiterated this to the clubhouse every time, but every Major League win is important; this is the best of the best,” Clevinger said. “You can’t take anything for granted or any opportunity you have out there. You’ve just got to give it the best you can.”