Grifol Wants White Sox To Play Fast Despite Baserunning Struggles

Pedro Grifol wants the White Sox to play fast. It’s a brand of baseball that helped the Diamondbacks win the National League pennant last season. It is also something that this current White Sox roster is not built for. 

“One of the things I learned last year is that we played a game that doesn’t win in the big leagues,” Grifol told reporters earlier in the offseason. “We need to play faster. We need to be more athletic. We’ve got to catch a baseball. We have to do things a little better fundamentally.” 

Playing fast and being aggressive on the basepaths is something that Grifol alluded to during spring training last season but never came to fruition. Some of that is on Grifol. Veteran players were constantly seen dogging it out of the box and on the basepaths. Another factor is the roster construction. The White Sox are not built to play like the Diamondbacks. However, it is clear they need to be more aggressive.

The White Sox ranked 23rd in the MLB in stolen bases with just 86. Luis Robert Jr. led the way with 20. Their second most prolific base stealer, Tim Anderson, is no longer with the team. The White Sox were one of just nine teams who had less than 100 stolen bases and were below the league average in successful stolen base percentage.  

Stolen bases are not always the best indication of a good baserunning team. The Kansas City Royals ranked third in the MLB with 166 stolen bases but won just 56 games. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Twins were tied with the White Sox with 86 stolen bases but won the division. But even when you take stolen bases out of the equation the White Sox were one of the worst baserunning teams in the MLB. 

The White Sox ranked last in the MLB in bases taken on fly balls, passed balls, wild pitches, balks, and defensive indifferences with 106. They were also below the league average in extra bases taken. White Sox baserunners were only able to advance more than one base on a single or more than two bases on a double just 42% of the time. 

Because the White Sox were not very aggressive on the basepaths their baserunners were only thrown out 26 times, which was the fewest in the MLB. Some of this can be attributed the the lackadaisical effort from the team on a nightly basis. The lack of aggression is also one of the reasons they were second to last in runs scored per game with an average of 3.96. 

The lack of speed and athleticism hurt the White Sox offensively. They scored the fewest runs in the MLB (24) when a double was hit with a runner standing on first base. Meanwhile, the World Series Champion Texas Rangers were tied for first with 48 runs scored when a double was hit with a man on first base. The White Sox were also 18 runs below the league average when a batter singled with a runner on second base. 

All these numbers can be chalked up to a roster that was not only slow but bad fundamentally. Looking ahead, to next season, the current projected starters reveal players with poor sprint speeds and baserunning run values, mostly below the league average.

Here is a breakdown of the White Sox projected starting nine based on Sprint Speed, Baserunning Run Value and their percentile rankings compared to the rest of the league:

Grifol is correct that the White Sox need to get more athletic because the current roster is filled with slow players who are below-average baserunners. Andrew Benintendi and Nicky Lopez are the only two players with a positive Baserunning Run Value. Meanwhile, Luis Robert Jr. is the only White Sox player to crack the 60th MLB’s percentile in sprint speed. 

Despite the roster constraints, Grifol is adamant about implementing a fast and aggressive style of play. Even if the team isn't geared toward playing faster, it is clear there needs to be an extra emphasis on baserunning during Spring Training. It will be interesting to see what Chris Getz does during the remainder of the offseason. and if he targets more players that will fit the style of baseball that Grifol wants to play.