On Tuesday night, the Chicago White Sox were able to steal a victory from its grasp.
The Minnesota Twins emerged victorious, 6-5, thanks to a meltdown in the bullpen that saw Michael Kopech and Steven Wilson surrender four runs in two innings, while leading 5-2 going into the bottom of the eighth.
Pedro Grifol, the manager, is to responsible for that.
He was forced, for whatever reason, to give Kopech a chance to make a six-out save. Wilson replaced Kopech in the ninth inning after the pitcher gave up two runs in the eighth. In the eighth inning, he decided to use his closer, and in the ninth, his setup man. Someone needs to explain that somehow.
Had Michael Kopech had a more seamless eighth inning, Pedro Grifol claimed he would have gone for the two-inning save.
The Sox manager, however, stated that he preferred Steven Wilson to face Byron Buxton and that he wanted Kopech to face the top of the Twins order.
Had Wilson bounced four balls into the dirt to see if he would chase something, it would have been nice to watch, especially for those who know the history of how Bryon Buxton wrecks the White Sox. If not, start him at the front and attempt a double play.
Grifol wasn’t the one who was truly throwing it out there, to be fair. Wilson and Kopech must carry out and complete their tasks in order to escape. Grifol must simultaneously place them in a position where they can thrive.
The year’s worst defeat.
Managers don’t matter, you say?
While it is true that players must perform, a manager’s role is to prepare his team for success, and he did not succeed.
To use his slider more, Kopech needs to be thrown to by Grifol or pitching coach Ethan Katz at some point. It is entertaining to watch Kopech throw fastballs at 100 mph with his four seams. If he misses a spot or hits at 97 mph, which happened a few times last night, it is a hit or walk.
Grifol also needs to admit that some people are eighth-inning pitchers and not everyone is a closer. Wilson is obviously a set-up artist. Either Grifol ought to have continued with Kopech to get three more outs, or he ought to have had the eighth.
Instead, as our colleagues noted last night, the Sox are dubiously affiliated with the Detroit Tigers of 2003.
The Sox cannot let up on exceptional chances to triumph, particularly considering Erick Fedde’s dominance on the mound. Over six innings, the starter allowed just one run and struck out a career-high eleven batters. Eloy Jimenez even hit a home run to give the Sox a 3-1 edge.
In the upper eighth, Andrew Benintendi made a contribution despite having a two-out, two-RBI hit. In the ninth inning, he furthered the deficit by misplaying a fly ball that resulted in a double and moved Carlos Santana, who had been at first base following a walk, to third. Eventually, a pinch runner scored to win the game on a walk-off.
Pedro clarified that Benintendi was using his deep play to avoid any doubles. The issue stemmed from Andrew’s misjudgment of the ball as it left the bat. He took a step back before recognizing the ball was not hitting the ball hard enough and was heading near the foul line.
These days, the White Sox have as few chances to win as Halley’s Comet does to pass by Earth.
It implies that the Sox have little room for error and must win by doing everything correctly in the margins. The manager is not allowed to make poor bullpen choices. The White Sox are now behind in the standings after Grifol made two terrible choices.
