Two new reasons to be worried about Chicago White Sox manager Pedro Grifol

The Chicago White Sox season continues to spiral downward.

The Sox have won just five games this month. The Minnesota Twins winning this weekend’s series has effectively killed any remote possibilities of the White Sox winning the AL Central.

Turns out the Sox’s troubles were not all Tony La Russa’s fault.

Pedro Grifol was hired last offseason to be the man that put White Sox playoff hopes back on track.

Instead, the contention window has slammed shut in Grifol’s first year as manager.

General manager Rick Hahn gave Grifol a poorly constructed roster. Injuries also put a damper on this season (we will get to the injuries in a little bit).

Still, Grifol has had his share of hiccups to kick off his managerial career.

He kept benching Jake Burger early in the season in favor of Gavin Sheets. Burger was one of the team’s best hitters to start the season, but he needed Yoan Moncada to go on the injured list to get consistent playing time.

When Burger was struggling at the plate in June, he credited his wife with helping him make a swing adjustment. That is not a good look for a new coaching staff.

Grifol stubbornly had a struggling Tim Anderson lead-off when it was clear his knee injury was zapping his ability to drive the ball. When it became apparent that Tim should be dropped down in the order, he moved him all the way down to the two-hole.

Anderson has been hitting better lately, but he should have been either dropped further down in the order or placed on the IL.

Pedro Grifol’s recent comments on Eloy Jimenez and Oscar Colas are two more reasons to be concerned that he is not the guy to lead the Chicago White Sox.

Recently, Eloy has been battling a groin injury. Instead of putting a well-known injury-plagued player on the 10-day IL to heal up, Grifol has had him in the batting lineup.

Grifol’s logic is simple–screw his legs, we need his bat.

The season is lost and Jimenez has been identified as one of the four players Rick Hahn will not trade at the deadline. That means Eloy is a foundational piece for the organization going forward and the manager is trotting him out there to bat on one leg.

It is déjà vu as La Russa did the same thing with Luis Robert Jr. when he was playing on an injured wrist.

Eloy needs to be on the IL. It is frustrating that he is injury prone, but when Jimenez is healthy, he is one of the most lethal bats in the league. Yet, the Chicago White Sox have a manager that keeps asking him to play through an injury that was supposed to cost Eloy at least five games.

There is nothing wrong with asking a player to play through aches and pains. This is different because Eloy is legit injured.

Andrew Vaughn is in a walking boot, but he is still not on the IL. This is reckless.

It might not be Pedro making the call, but he has to protect his players. Instead, it feels like he is responding with a ‘put some dirt on it’ response.

If the Chicago White Sox were in the middle of a pennant race, then it is fine to give Grifol some grace. We are talking about a season where the Chicago White Sox need to win 19 games in a row just to get back to .500.

Oscar Colas’ rookie season has not gone the way everyone hoped it would go. He has already been demoted to Triple-A. He raked down in Triple-A Charlotte during his demotion and earned another shot at the big leagues.

He is still struggling in the Majors and was benched on Friday night. It was not because of his struggles. Colas was benched because he is too intense.

This is also some serious déjà vu as La Russa asked his players to not run hard on the base path to avoid getting hurt.

Grifol was hired to bring intensity back to the clubhouse and he is asking a player to tone it down. To be fair, maybe Oscar’s intensity is getting in the way of his preparation and learning the big-league game.

At the same time, asking a player to take it easy was one of last season’s downfall. Grifol’s hiring was supposed to fix a lot of the organization’s issues. Instead, it feels like he is helping make them worse.