White Sox Pitching Finds Themselves In Odd But Familiar Territory

The White Sox pitching staff has been a disaster. They are the only team in American League history to allow 17 plus home runs and 40 plus walks in the first eight games of the season.

After giving up seven runs and a career-high 12 hits in four innings against the Pirates on Friday, Lucas Giolito told reporters, “We’ve got to do a better job. We’re not going deep enough into games, especially me today.”

This is a quote that could have easily fit into five of the White Sox first eight games in 2023. There was speculation that Micheal Kopech was tipping pitches in his first start, Lance Lynn was throwing beach balls in his second start, and Lucas Giolito did not look dialed in during either of his starts.

Thus far, Dylan Cease is the only White Sox starter to make it past the fifth inning, and that came on Opening Day when he threw 6.1 against the Astros. Since then, it has been a whole lot of short starts with a lot of runs given up. White Sox starters posted a combined 6.30 ERA in the first eight games.

The White Sox offense has done its part. They lead the MLB in hits and are tied for fifth in runs. They are averaging five runs a game, which should be enough to win on a nightly basis. However, the White Sox rank dead last in the MLB with a 7.70 team ERA. To put in perspective how bad they have been, the next closest team is the Oakland Athletics at 6.33.

During their home stand against the Giants, the White Sox allowed 13 home runs, which is a new record for a three-game series at Guaranteed Rate Field. It should be noted the Giants do not have a great offensive team. They ranked 12th in the MLB in home runs last season.

One of the biggest issues is that 71 percent of the runs the team has allowed have been with two outs. They have had a tough time finishing innings which can be demoralizing for a team.

But first-year manager Pedro Grifol has yet to press the panic button.

“I don’t have concern with the pitching, I really don’t,” he said after the White Sox 13-9 loss to the Pirates. “These guys have done it before. They’ve done it for a while now. It’s just one of those stretches. Obviously, there are adjustments to be made, they’re working on it, but concerns? I don’t.”

It is still early in the season, but if the White Sox want any chance at winning the division, the starters need to go deeper into games. \The White Sox can’t let the bullpen get worn out in April, especially since they don’t have that much talent in the bullpen. Two of their most talented arms, Liam Hendriks and Garrett Crochet, are on the IL.

As bad as the rotation has performed, they have at least had a couple of games in which the starters have kept them in the game. Lance Lynn left his start on March 31st with a 3-2 lead after 5.2 innings. Mike Clevinger threw five shutout innings on April 23rd, and then Dylan Cease limited the Giants to one run in five innings on Monday against the Giants.

The bullpen has done little to bail the starters out. In their first 30 innings of the season, White Sox relievers have combined for a 9.62 ERA, which is by far the worst in baseball.

The bullpen has yet to have a game this season where they haven’t allowed a run. This is a significant issue because Rick Hahn has spent a ton of money on the bullpen. Yet the team’s pitching depth was so bad that Jose Ruiz made the Opening Day roster.

Jose Ruiz was jettisoned from the roster after allowing nine runs in just 3.2 innings. But he was not the only issue. Jake Diekman has been one of the leading culprits. The White Sox’s lone trade deadline acquisition from a year ago has a 12.27 ERA in 3.2 innings with a 2.18 WHIP.

There is some light at the end of the tunnel, however. The White Sox have allowed 61 runs in their first eight games. According to Chris Kamka the last time they allowed 61 runs through eight games was 2000 when they finished 95-67.

They are also the first team in the AL wuth 85 plus hits thrugh eight games since the 2015 Royals, who went onto win the World Series. This places the White Sox in some odd but familar territory, hopefully history repeats itself.