The opener of a three-game series between the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers on Friday might have lacked some of the anticipation of the Taylor Swift concert a few miles north. Manager Pedro Grifol was just excited to have his whole team back for the first time, with Elvis Andrus and starter Mike Clevinger coming off the injured list Friday, four days after.
The opener of a three-game series between the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers on Friday might have lacked some of the anticipation of the Taylor Swift concert a few miles north.
There was no bad blood between the teams, as was the case in years past. All the Sox could do after their 23-35 start in April and May was to shake it off or face the possibility of another cruel summer on the South Side.
Manager Pedro Grifol was just excited to have his whole team back for the first time, with Elvis Andrus and starter Mike Clevinger coming off the injured list Friday, four days after the return of closer Liam Hendriks from non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
“Having a full roster like this and having some depth is going to allow us to rest people more often than we have been able to,” Grifol said before Friday’s 3-0 victory. “And that’s important for us to allow bodies to recover while we still have the depth in our lineup.”
How Grifol deals with the rare abundance of healthy Sox players will be interesting to watch in the coming weeks as he tries to right the ship after an awful 8-21 start and a 15-14 record in May.
“We’ve learned from each other,” Grifol said. “We made mistakes in April, and that’s me included. But we were a better ballclub in May. We need to improve now in June and continue in July and finish the year strong.
