With both the White Sox and Cardinals having entered the weekend 15 games below .500, their series to end the first half doubles as a duel between the two most disappointing teams in baseball.
Friday night’s topsy-turvy 8-7 Sox victory largely fit the bill, as a rough start by right-hander Dylan Cease collided with a seven-run meltdown by the Cardinals’ bullpen.
After erasing a 5-0 deficit, tying the game 7-7 on All-Star outfielder Luis Robert Jr.’s home run in the seventh and going ahead for good when the Cardinals’ Chris Stratton walked in the game-winner that same inning, the Sox (38-52) have played .500 ball since a grisly 7-21 start.
“I was really proud of our resilience tonight,” said third baseman Jake Burger, who drove in three runs. “Like [manager] Pedro [Grifol] said, [we’re] taking it pitch by pitch and competing as much as we can.”
Still, even after scraping out a win despite allowing 16 hits and committing two fielding errors, the wear of this season is apparent.
“It’s been a challenge — faith has got me through it, and it’s going to continue to get me through it,” Grifol said.
Said Cease: “At the end of the day, wins and losses are the only things that matter, and obviously we’ve come short in that category. We fought really hard, and we’re always in it. It’s just that we haven’t pulled enough of them out.”
Laden with veterans and in the middle of a would-be window of contention after a rebuild, the Sox entered the season with motivation to buy at the trade deadline and boost a playoff-bound team. Just a month ago, when they were within four games of first place in the dreary American League Central, that read as their likely direction.
But as the end of the first half nears, the looming reality of veterans being traded is being acknowledged.
“You can look around and still see the talent that’s going to be here,” right-hander Michael Kopech said when asked about the long-term outlook for this group. “There are some guys that may not be here with us. But we know that right now, they are helping us. The collective group we’ve had here, I think we all know what we are capable of. Unfortunately, we haven’t lived up to those expectations that we hold ourselves to.”
Cease finished a personally uneven first half by allowing five runs and a season-high 11 hits in six innings, inflating his ERA to 4.30. After a Cy Young runner-up performance in 2022, he has dealt with inconsistency and diminished velocity all season.
“It’s definitely been a little bit underwhelming,” he said of his first half. “I’m pretty confident with what I need to do. Unfortunately, I got away from it a little bit today.”
If only the Sox’ troubles were limited to Cease. After a spring training spent emphasizing defensive execution, they ranked near the bottom of most runs-saved metrics even before two more errors Friday. With their offense sporting the lowest walk rate in the AL, they haven’t had enough moments like rookie Zach Remillard laying off close pitches to draw the bases-loaded walk in the seventh for the go-ahead run.
“In that situation, the moment can speed you up,” said Remillard, who was called up last month. “Or you can take advantage of it and use it to focus in on what you’re trying to do. Try to get them in the middle of the plate, and anything borderline, you’re trying to lay off. A couple calls went my way.”
Tasked with ushering in a sea change with a new coaching staff, Grifol hasn’t seen meaningful progress in the first half, and probably won’t in time to keep the Sox from selling at the trade deadline.
But even in a huge hole, Grifol sees his team as closer than they appear.
“It’s easy to just quit, and these guys never do that,” he said. “We play tight ballgames. It seems like every single night we’re in a one-run, two-run ballgame. I think this is going to really help us down the road.”
