3 White Sox storylines to watch in Spring Training

This story was excerpted from Scott Merkin's White Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CHICAGO -- The temperature is near 40 degrees during a pleasant winter Monday in Chicago, but one week from today, my newsletter will be coming to you live from an even warmer Glendale, Ariz., as Spring Training 2023 begins for the White Sox.

This will be Spring Training No. 21 for me, the 20th in my 21 years with MLB.com. I also covered it once while working with another outlet. I missed 2018 entirely due to a herniated L2 disc in my back, for those outside my family and friends who were wondering. In-depth coverage will be coming your way from Arizona, but leading up to when pitchers and catchers report on Feb. 15, look for a couple of stories from my recent exclusive interview with new Chicago manager Pedro Grifol.

The 2023 campaign figures to be one of the most important periods in recent memory for the White Sox, entering Year 4 of a potential championship window with just two playoff victories in the books. So, let’s look at three storylines to watch for a camp figuring to be chock-full of them.

Grifol at the helm
The 53-year-old basically won the interview process to become the 42nd manager in White Sox history during his first of four meetings with various front-office members. He has been eloquent, focused and understatedly confident and upbeat during his media interactions since the move was officially announced a little more than three months ago. But Grifol and the White Sox understand true results and victories come when they take the field, especially with the 81-81 disappointment from 2022 still fresh in fans’ minds.

Grifol served as bench coach for the past three years under former Royals manager Mike Matheny, and he did Spring Training work for World Series-winning manager Ned Yost. So, there is nothing unanticipated in that procedural aspect.

“Obviously, managing is different than the bench coach [job]. It is,” Grifol told me on Friday. “As a bench coach, you are leading people but somebody else is leading you. Here, I’m leading people.

“But I love to delegate, I love to watch people work, I love to watch people lead. I think about [February] 14 and the 15th, and it’s really no different, other than I’m going to stand in front of the team and share our expectations with them and go out there and execute. That’s really what it’s about.”

Will Colas be the right man for right field?
Many White Sox fans somewhat begrudgingly say, “Yes,” and that attitude has nothing to do with Oscar Colas’ overall ability. That group was hoping for a more established right fielder, or maybe it's still steaming over the White Sox not following through on their pursuit of Bryce Harper when he was a free agent. And, yes, Harper would have been a great fit on the South Side.

General manager Rick Hahn has consistently talked about filling some needs from within, and even if the No. 2 White Sox prospect in 2022, per MLB Pipeline, wouldn’t be considered a finished product, he’ll get every chance to earn a roster spot. Colas, 24, provides left-handed power and solid defense in right with experience in center.

“He’s a guy who has really good hands at the plate, certainly has power, has a good arm, he loves to compete and plays passionately,” White Sox assistant general manager of player development Chris Getz said of Colas. “He has a chance to be an impactful Major League player.

“There’s a real aggressiveness to how he plays the game. He has the ability to make adjustments at the plate just because of how talented his hands are, and I feel like he really has a chance to help our Major League club soon.”

Gavin Sheets and Eloy Jiménez are among the others who will get looks in right.

Collective bounce-back
I asked Grifol if his offseason conversations and thorough preparation produced one player he could identify as the driving force behind this 2023 team: A "where he goes, the White Sox go" type of guy. Grifol didn’t limit himself to one.

“There are a lot of guys with a chip on their shoulder. A lot of guys that feel like that last year wasn’t the year that we were supposed to have,” Grifol said. “TA [Tim Anderson] comes to mind right away, [Yasmani] Grandal comes to mind. I know Eloy is working his butt off.”

Grifol didn’t stop there, also mentioning offseason work from Luis Robert, Joe Kelly, Dylan Cease, Lucas Giolito, Michael Kopech and Yoán Moncada, and how Lance Lynn already is working in Arizona. Every one of these players but Cease dealt with injuries, underperformance or a combination of both last year.

“Me just mentioning one or two, I don’t think that would be accurate in my conversations with all these guys,” Grifol said. “There is a serious chip on our shoulder as a team and an organization that this is going to be a different vibe and a different year. These guys are pumped and ready to go. I’m excited about that.”