White Sox share accountability of disappointing 2022 originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Six months ago, the expectation was the White Sox would be gearing up for a long postseason run right about now.
Instead, when they took the field Wednesday, they were only playing to finish over .500 in a 2022 season that didn’t go close to expected.
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The White Sox were projected as runaway favorites for the AL Central crown this spring, with pundits across the industry picking them to advance to or win the World Series.
They finished exactly .500 at 81-81 after a 10-1 loss to the Twins, a rather fitting finish after six months of inconsistency.
“We, like the fans, felt the level of disappointment with the performance this year,” general manager Rick Hahn said this week. “It's been described to me at times as depressing, disgust, frustration, shock.
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“I think any of those adjectives are appropriate.”
Hahn, manager Tony La Russa and players have all shared accountability in recent days in reflecting on what went wrong in such a disappointing season.
No matter who you think is most to blame, there’s plenty of it to go around.
“Tony put it on himself and the players put it on themselves,” Hahn said. “We put it equally if not more so on ourselves (the front office).
“There’s no one associated with this organization — at least on the baseball side, including the guys in uniform, scouts, player development — who doesn’t find this past year unacceptable and extraordinarily frustrating and disappointing.”
Hahn and Co. have built a talented nucleus of homegrown players, but many of them missed significant time this season due to injuries.
The roster didn’t have enough depth to withstand those losses (which started in spring training), nor key players underperforming this season.
Not to mention the Sox didn’t address some of their greatest needs last winter.
“A lot of hours, time, effort, support from fans, dollars, were poured in to try to create a successful expanded window for this team to contend,” Hahn said. “Even though things looked we were going to continue that six months ago, it didn’t happen.
“The squandering of this year is something that I know individually I will carry with me for a while.”
La Russa met the media Monday to announce his stepping down as manager due to health-related issues. He offered a blunt assessment of his performance this season.
“Our team’s record this season is the final reality,” said La Russa in a statement before echoing the same thoughts in a press conference. “It is an unacceptable disappointment. There were some pluses, but too many minuses.
“In the major leagues, you either do or you don’t. Explanations come across as excuses. … I was hired to provide positive, difference-making leadership and support. Our record is proof. I did not do my job.”
Whether they count as excuses, there are some factors worth noting, like the injuries and down seasons across the roster.
Defensively, the Sox ranked near the bottom of baseball, and offensively, their lineup full of power hitters finished in the bottom third of baseball in home runs.
“This season, we weren't healthy,” José Abreu said of why the Sox fell short. “And we as players, we didn't do the things that we were supposed to do on the field, to do our jobs and to support Tony.”
La Russa is not without criticism for his decisions, like a 1-2 count intentional walk, and we saw the initial spark Miguel Cairo provided the White Sox in his absence.
A new manager also isn’t the solution to every problem. Closer Liam Hendriks said the players need to do some “soul-searching.”
“There needs to be a lot of going through what we struggled at, what we succeeded at, what we can work on better, what we need to take away from what we did,” said Hendriks, pointing to his struggles with inherited runners.
“There's a lot of things that we did this year that weren't very good. And there's a lot of things this year that we really need to improve on. But the only way to look in on that is to look in on yourself and realize what you struggled at.”
The White Sox have the next four-plus months to address what went wrong this year.
It's clear the disappointment in 2022 is felt up and down the organization.
“This is going to have an effect,” Hahn said. “This is going to have an impact on people. This is not a feeling that any of us want to experience again.”
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