5 things that went wrong for the 2022 Chicago White Sox

4. Poor Play

A lot of the Chicago White Sox players just didn’t play well enough in 2022.

Whether it can be blamed on injuries, bad luck, bad management, or something else, few players executed well for an entire season. Lucas Giolito was up and down as just one example. Moncada and Grandal couldn’t hit (though Moncada seemed to improve near the season’s end).

Even players who normally did their job failed at the wrong time. One of the Sox’s worst losses came in Baltimore when normally sure-handed Adam Engel dropped an easy foul pop-up that would’ve ended the game.

Then, normally reliable closer Hendriks followed by allowing a game-tying homer in the same at-bat. That is just terrible.

To be fair, some players provided bright spots. Vaughn hit well for being a second-year player and so did Abreu. Sheets provided a few highlights as well. Johnny Cueto came off the free-agent market and pitched amazingly while Dylan Cease competed for the AL Cy Young. It wasn’t enough.

Not to mention the lack of baseball IQ on the basepaths and in the field. It’s bad enough to drop catchable balls as the Sox often did.

It’s another run into preventable outs. We all remember the triple play in July which is probably the season’s nadir in this respect. Broadcaster Steve Stone often seemed exasperated by the team’s inability to hit a cutoff man, thus often giving opposing runners an easy 90 feet.

Indeed, one reason the Cleveland Guardians won the division is because of their baseball smarts. Take note, Chicago.