The White Sox more or less packed it in by the time September rolled around, and there wasn't anything Pedro Grifol could do about it. Sure, he'd occasionally call some pitiful effort "unacceptable," but if you believe in showing instead of telling, Grifol couldn't enforce higher standards. The only question was whether the White Sox would lose 100 games. They ended up losing 101.
And it could've been worse, because the piecemeal pitching staff actually held together OK. It had some awful games, certainly, but that's to be expected when it's largely composed of cast-offs and call-ups. They limited opponents to four runs or fewer in 17 of 28 games around those blow-ups, so they should've been able to fare better than 8-20.
The offense is the reason why they didn't. While every other American League team scored at least 100 runs in September, the White Sox scored only 83. They literally did nothing well, ranking at or near the bottom of all key offensive categories:
- BA: .223 (tied for worst)
- OBP: .268 (next-worst, .287)
- SLG: .344 (.359)
- HR: 22 (second-fewest)
- SB: 7 (next-fewest, 9)
- BB: 54 (next-fewest, 74)
- HBP: 4 (tied for worst)
Perhaps the most remarkable stat is that the White Sox had the lowest OBP by 15 points, yet somehow grounded into the most double plays. Even without a leg to stand on, they never stopped shooting themselves in the feet.
WHITE SOX TEAM PERFORMANCE
- Record: 8-20
- Run differential: 83 RS, 149 RA
- Standings: Fourth, 26 GB
- Longest winning streak: Two, Sept. 6-8, Sept. 23-24
- Longest losing streak: Four, Sept. 1-4, Sept. 12-15
- Largest margin of victory: 6, vs. Detroit Sept. 8
- Largest margin of defeat: 11, at Kansas City Sept. 4, vs. Arizona Sept. 26
HITTING LEADERS
- Batting average: .298, Yoán Moncada
- On-base percentage: .344, Moncada
- Slugging percentage: .560, Moncada
- wRC+: 145, Moncada
- Home runs: 6, Moncada
- RBI: 12, Moncada and Gavin Sheets
- Walks: 8, Andrew Benintendi
- Strikeouts: 33, Moncada
- Stolen bases: 3, Luis Robert Jr.
- fWAR: 0.8, Moncada
PITCHING LEADERS
- Wins: 3, Mike Clevinger
- Losses: 3, Clevinger, Jose Ureña
- ERA: 0.92, Bryan Shaw
- Innings: 33.2, Clevinger
- Strikeouts: 38, Dylan Cease
- Appearances: 18, Shaw
- Relief innings: 19.2, Shaw
- fWAR: 0.8, Cease
COMING AND GOING
- White Sox debuts: Luis Patiño, Jose Ureña, Deivi García, Yohan Ramirez, Tyler Naquin
- White Sox departures: Seby Zavala
- Going up: Luis Patiño, José Rodríguez, Zach Remillard, Declan Cronin, Ureña, García, Carlos Pérez, Ramirez, Declan Cronin, Naquin
- Going down: Rodríguez, Edgar Navarro, Oscar Colás, Cronin
#SOXMORGUE
- Jimmy Lambert: Right ankle inflammation
- Declan Cronin: Blisters on right hand
- Gregory Santos: Right elbow inflammation
- Michael Kopech: Right knee inflammation
- Jesse Scholtens: Left calf strain
- Luis Robert Jr.: Left mild MCL sprain
AWARDS
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Yoán Moncada
It served no purpose for the 2023 White Sox, but Moncada provided a little upside for the 2024 version with the way he finished out the season. The bat speed returned, and that's why he ended up leading the White Sox in every meaningful offensive category. He also struck out 33 times over 90 plate appearances, but the clumps of K's are far more tolerable when there are clumps of homers mixed in, along with his reliable defense.
Least Valuable Player: Korey Lee
Conversely, Lee did not assuage concerns about the 2024 catching situation with how he finished 2023. Lee received the majority of the playing time behind the plate and did very little with the opportunity, going 5-for-49 with a homer, a double, two walks and 14 strikeouts. He showed more promise defensively, with good blocking numbers and a respectable 27 percent caught-stealing rate, but the framing isn't an asset, and with the way he's hitting, he needs to do just about everything else to be viable.
Most Valuable Pitcher: Dylan Cease
For the third consecutive season, Cease took the ball every single turn, finishing tied for the league lead with 33 starts. He also finished on a high note, with a 2.83 ERA and 38 strikeouts against just eight walks over 28⅔ innings. He completed five innings in every start, pitched into the sixth in four of them, and peaked with 11 strikeouts over seven shutout innings against Boston in his penultimate outing. Efficiency remained an issue, but more protracted battles ended in strikeouts instead of walks. It should be enough to maintain some trade value heading into the winter, although starting pitching happens to be the only deep area of the free-agent pool.
Least Valuable Pitcher: Jesse Scholtens
When all is said and done, Scholtens will be able to consider 2023 a personal success, because he endured long enough to make his major-league debut at 29, and actually showed a little bit of staying power through 50 innings or so. He just didn't put himself in a great position for a longer look in 2024 with the way his season ended, so frustration will probably be at the forefront right now. He gave up 20 runs on 30 hits and nine walks over 14⅔ innings before being shut down with a calf injury. He finished the year 1-9 with a 5.29 ERA, but at least he got that "1," right?
Fire Man: Bryan Shaw
Shaw actually had a case for Pitcher of the Month because he nearly amassed a starter's workload out of the bullpen. He pitched in 18 of 28 games for the White Sox, including five in a row at the end of the season, and he appeared to grow stronger with every appearance. He allowed just two runs over 19⅔ innings, pitching his way into the closer role. He went 3-for-3 in save situations, his last six appearances came in the ninth inning, and all of them were scoreless.
Gas Can: Michael Kopech
Kopech's season degenerated into such a miserable state that it came as a relief when the White Sox announced he needed another knee surgery to remove a cyst. He allowed 17 baserunners over 5 ⅓ innings, including seven walks and a hit batter over 5⅓ innings. His velocity topped out at 94 during his final appearance, so once the shift to the bullpen didn't stop his slide, the White Sox pulled the plug on his season with a week to go.
Bench player: Lenyn Sosa
The pickings are slim, because Sosa only needed to hit .226/.276/.340 to receive the nod. He just managed to show some sign of progress by the end of the year, going 6-for-22 with a homer, double and four walks over his final eight games. Maybe it's a random spasm of production more than a sign of sustainable major-league ability, but he shouldn't have been as bad as he'd shown, so some regression was in order regardless.
Stench Player: Zach Remillard
Remillard and Scholtens both made their MLB debuts as 29, and they followed parallel paths over the course of the season. They would've been appreciated patches if their stints were limited to their initial emergency work, but both faltered under the load of regular MLB exposure. Remillard hit .192/.192/.231 with 10 strikeouts over 26 plate appearances, his second consecutive month with 10 strikeouts and zero walks. Just like Scholtens, it's a frustrating end to a season he would've accepted with no hesitation, given the odds of getting 160 plate appearances at the major-league level in the first place.
Gold Glove: Yoán Moncada
He completed his well-rounded body of work by finishing the month with a team-leading 3 Outs Above Average. The log shows only one error and one misplay, while he made a number of athletic plays, most of them charging or going to his right. They don't register as highlights on MLB.com's video database, but the mark of a good defender is making plays with a degree of difficulty look routine.
Hands of Stone: Tim Anderson
Gavin Sheets actually scored worse, finishing at -3 OAA in right field while Anderson was actually +1 at shortstop. But Sheets is a gun safe masquerading as an outfielder, whereas Anderson is supposed to be a shortstop, and he made a bunch of weird plays. Four of them counted as errors, but there were a few more that failed to inspire confidence, which might be why he's more open to a move to second base in the future.
Timeline
The reviews are in: The White Sox draw 15,105 on a fine holiday weekend Friday for the first official game of the Chris Getz era, which ends in a 4-2 loss that seals the losing season. Some of them brought a sign that got confiscated. (Sept. 1)
A manager of rookies only: Pedro Grifol benches Korey Lee for not running out a pop-up that would've landed in fair territory. Also, the White Sox lost 10-0 while only sending 28 batters to the plate. (Sept. 2)
1K for TA7: Tim Anderson notches his 1,000th hit in a loss to Detroit. Most probably figured he'd reach that milestone a month earlier. (Sept. 3)
Walk-off balk: The White Sox fall to 0-5 in the Chris Getz era because Gregory Santos rushed a pitch home with the bases loaded before the pitch clock expired. The problem? He didn't come to a set, and so he balked home the winning run in a 7-6 loss to Kansas City. (Sept. 5)
Jordan rules: The White Sox finally notch their first win for Getz, only because they were facing Jordan Lyles, who fell to 4-16 after a sixth-inning collapse. (Sept. 6)
The bullpen beckons: About 10 days after saying Michael Kopech's future remains in the rotation no matter his problems throwing strikes -- "him not being a starter is not anywhere close to what we're thinking" -- Grifol shifts Kopech to the bullpen for the remainder of the season. (Sept. 9)
Message sent: Even without more promising options to replace him in right field, the White Sox option Oscar Colás to Charlotte for the remainder of the season. (Sept. 11)
A noble loss: Jordan Lyles once again misses out on picking up a win because the White Sox manage to erase a 9-0 lead. They lost 11-10, but Lyles had to settle for a no-decision. (Sept. 12)
Something Wilder: In his first interview since being released from prison for defrauding the White Sox (and the federal government) in a skimming scandal, Dave Wilder of all people becomes the latest figure to take shots at the way the White Sox are run. (Sept. 13)
10-2 your own damn business: The White Sox lose consecutive games to the Minnesota Twins by a score of 10-2. (Sept. 15)
Complete game non-shutout: Mike Clevinger loses his bid for a shutout when Dom Smith hits a solo shot with two outs in the ninth, but despite benches clearing due to a testy exchange of words, Clevinger ends up throwing the White Sox's only complete game of 2023. Also, this happened... (Sept. 18)
Administration takes shape: Brian Bannister (director of pitching), Josh Barfield (assistant GM) and Gene Watson (director of player personnel) are announced as the first front office hires of the Chris Getz era. (Sept. 20)
The peskiest: Luis Robert Jr. hits the shortest over-the-wall homer of the season by sneaking a 311-foot drive just inside the Pesky Pole at Fenway Park for the only run of a rain-soaked game. (Sept. 23)
Rain, the ultimate reliever: The White Sox win their first series of September thanks to a weather system that drenched the East Coast and cut off the rubber match after six innings. (Sept. 24)
Welcome home: The final homestand of the season starts with the White Sox giving up 14 unanswered runs in a 15-4 loss to the Diamondbacks. (Sept. 26)
Everything's $1: Because the Monday White Sox-Diamondbacks game was rescheduled for a mutual off day on Thursday to accommodate a D-backs rainout in New York, the White Sox sell tickets for $1 with free parking. However many of the 23,522 fans who bought a ticket got their money's worth, as the White Sox win 3-1 on just three hits. (Sept. 28)
Everyday Bryan: Bryan Shaw becomes the first White Sox pitcher since Bill Simas in 1999 to pitch in five consecutive games. All of his appearances were scoreless. (Oct. 1)
Season-ending sweep: The White Sox conclude their season with a three-game sweep at the hands of the Padres for 101 losses, their worst total since 1970. (Oct. 1)
