5 things that went wrong for the 2022 Chicago White Sox
By Tim Healey
2. Injuries
The Chicago White Sox dealt with a lot of injuries for the second year in a row.
Injuries really did hurt the Sox. The core (Tim Anderson, Luis Robert, Yasmani Grandal, Eloy Jimenez, Yoan Moncada, and Jose Abreu) was rarely in the lineup together.
Starting pitcher Lance Lynn was hurt coming out of spring training and it took a good chunk of the season before he seemed to get right. Bullpen acquisition Joe Kelly missed the first month of the season and later missed more time.
Michael Kopech, a big key piece of the future starting rotation, also got hurt. Bullpen stalwart Aaron Bummer was hurt for a really long time too.
Utility player Danny Mendick was lost for the year because of a collision that could have been avoided. Even backup catcher Sebby Zavala ended the season with a concussion. The Sox injury list seemingly appears to include every player who suited up.
The training staff even advised players to not hustle so that they wouldn’t aggravate nagging injuries. It’s worth noting, at this point, that a lockout led to a shortened spring training and Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf was rumored to be one of the owners who took a hard line toward labor.
I don’t like to use injuries as an excuse and the front office should’ve added better depth to deal with the inevitable injuries but there were times the Sox were not fielding a lineup that any reasonable observer would consider to be Major League competitive.
As frustrating as the season was, as much as we’d like to pin blame on the manager, front office, and players, we must acknowledge that there were issues that were out of the Sox’s control.