MLB Misery Index: White Sox manager Pedro Grifol on the hot seat for MLB's worst team
With another gut-wrenching defeat against the in-town rival Cubs on Wednesday, the Chicago White Sox have lost 13 games in a row, tying a franchise record.
Currently on pace to finish with the worst record in baseball history, the 15-47 White Sox are a full 8 ½ games behind the Miami Marlins in the basement of MLB's 2024 standings.
This week's MLB Misery Index takes a look at the White Sox and manager Pedro Grifol, who may not make it all the way to the end of his second season with Chicago:
Pedro Grifol on the hot seat
With everything going wrong through the first two months, Grifol seems to be a lame duck and is getting accustomed to fielding regular questions about his job status.
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“I’m fine with it, addressing these questions, but I’m not going to sit here and address it every day,” Grifol told reporters, per the Chicago Tribune. “But I don’t focus on that stuff. It’s a part of the job. We’re not winning. So when you’re not winning, speculations get higher and higher."
In his first year on the job, White Sox general manager Chris Getz is saddled with a manager whom he didn't hire on pace for the worst record in the history of the sport. How much longer is he willing to keep Grifol in the dugout?
Following a report in The Athletic about his job security, Grifol was asked by reporters whether he planned to talk to Getz about his status.
"No, why would I do that?" Grifol said Wednesday. "I mean, I don’t make those decisions. And I’m certainly not going to worry about it."
After a defeat early in the 13-game losing streak, Grifol said that most of his team was "(expletive) flat," some fiery and rare public criticism from a manager. While Chicago's skipper has fiercely defended his players since then, his airing of grievance may not sit too well with others in the organization.
“He’s going to feel that way, and obviously we have a different feeling," catcher Korey Lee told reporters after hearing about Grifol's remark.
Grifol is in the second year of his three-year contract with the White Sox, succeeding Tony La Russa. Chicago is Grifol's first managerial job after he spent 10 seasons on the Kansas City Royals staff.