'This is what we did to ourselves': Can White Sox overcome 'demons' in time to make playoffs?

BALTIMORE — They were supposed to be great but are merely good. Expected to dominate, but instead are bafflingly inconsistent. And as an oft-maddening 2022 season jerks toward a conclusion that may yet be fruitful, the Chicago White Sox find themselves grasping at times for explanations, at others for inspiration.

A mea culpa for a violation not yet committed. A switch they’d like to turn on that simply doesn’t exist.

"I know we’re not playing our best baseball, but I think it will be better for our mental state in the fact we had to battle against our own demons," All-Star closer Liam Hendriks tells USA TODAY Sports. "We had to fight against ourselves because this is what we did to ourselves.

"This is no one else’s doing. This is not an injury thing. This is of our own volition and hopefully something we can come out of being stronger."

"This" is a squad that, after winning 93 games in 2021, sits in a second-place tie in a mediocre American League Central it dominated last year, a 63-61 record not even good enough to sniff a wild-card berth in the generous, new playoff format. It is a club that’s seen two erstwhile All-Star starting pitchers, Lucas Giolito and Lance Lynn, fall into high-ERA sinkholes that jeopardize the club’s chances at continuity.

And the White Sox are a club that had a team president visit for a July clubhouse admonishment and a group of 10 veterans meet with the 77-year-old manager in August in hopes the bumpy path can be smoothed.

It just hits different when grand expectations go unmet as summer veers toward fall.

"Every day, we go out there trying to win games. That’s our mindset. But we can’t just say, ‘We want to win,’ and the wins will be there," says center fielder Luis Robert. "You have to go out there and do your job and perform. It’s not that easy to just say it. You have to do it."

Just 38 games remain to do so.

The defending AL Central champions find themselves four games behind the first-place Cleveland Guardians, in a virtual tie with the Twins for second place and needing to mount three teams if they hope to snag one of three AL wild-card berths. They have split two games with the surprising and sudden wild-card rival Baltimore Orioles with a third remaining Thursday.

Next month, 16 games lurk against the Guardians and Twins, against whom the White Sox have gone just 10-15 so far this year. Call it a last resort, if you must.

"In this league," says manager Tony La Russa, "you either do or you don’t. It’s up to us to relax more or develop a better approach."

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And perhaps that’s the overriding theme of this White Sox season: A gnawing sense that something has to change, preferably soon.

'It's been very elusive for us'

The injury bug has been real. Robert, Eloy Jimenez, Hendriks, Giolito, Lynn, Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, Yasmani Grandal, Tim Anderson – all have spent time on the injured list, the latter three currently shelved. Jimenez, their 25-year-old slugger, has been limited to just 49 games after an April hamstring injury required surgery.

And while La Russa calls it "a real challenge," he’s quick to note it’s probably nothing worse than what most clubs have endured.

Instead, it’s so much more.

A defense that ranks 25th with -19 defensive runs saved, with right field (-11) and shortstop (-11) particular sinkholes with Anderson and Jimenez largely missing. A rotation getting a Cy Young-caliber season from Dylan Cease, but more than occasional struggles from Giolito (5.14 ERA) and Lynn (5.30).

And then there’s the vibe check.

La Russa will turn 78 on the second-to-last day of the season, and while he encountered a few potholes in his return to managing after a decade-long absence last year, those 93 wins quieted much of the furor.

This year, La Russa has drawn attention around the game for ordering intentional walks of two batters (the Dodgers’ Trea Turner and Cleveland’s Oscar Gonzalez) who already faced a 1-2 count. With the club scuffling at 39-43 on July 8, club president Ken Williams felt compelled to address the team. On Aug. 17, La Russa did the same, taking a meeting with 10 clubhouse leaders after losing three of four games against the woeful Royals.

The White Sox proceeded to win the next five games – and then lost five of the next six.

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That brought them to Wednesday night in Camden Yards, the Orioles threatening to bury them further in the wild card chase and Giolito getting the start after giving up seven earned runs to Houston in his last start.

And then, all went as it should.

An offense prone to wasted opportunities seized a 2-0, first-inning lead. Giolito did not surrender the ball until the seventh inning, recording 19 outs and giving up just one run. And with the bases full of Orioles in the bottom of the seventh, Moncada saved the game, making a gorgeous backhand stab of a Jorge Mateo smash, touching third and throwing across the diamond for a double play.

The 5-3 victory brought them within 1½ games of the Orioles – instead of 3½ back – in the wild card chase, and within four games of Seattle for the final berth. Perhaps more significantly, it stood out from months of often listless play.

"I felt like today we came together as a team and were kind of firing in all facets of the game. When we do that, we win games," says Giolito. "We played with a good level of energy, and everybody was playing for each other, pulling from the same end of the rope. The offense and defense keeping the momentum on our side.

"It’s been very elusive for us this year, along with the injury stuff. But when we play the game clean, play the game tight, we’re having fun, the dugout has a good atmosphere, we usually come out on top in games like that."

Perhaps acknowledging they had problems was a key step in the White Sox solving them.

Keeping the vibe

Hendriks still points to the Aug. 17 meeting as a key moment of realization, particularly the concise diagnosis from 35-year-old slugger Jose Abreu: “Confidence,” he said in the meeting while comparing 2021 to ’22, “turned to cockiness.”

"And we weren’t able to control that," says Hendriks, who has converted his last 19 save opportunities. "We thought we’d be able to roll through the division and that wasn’t the case. We’ve gone from thinking we’ve had it made, to pressing too much because we had to try too hard, and then showed instances of doing some special things.

"We haven’t quite hit that rhythm, where at the end of that homestand, end of that road trip, something comes and trips us up and we stumble. But we got some big series ahead we have to take advantage of."

They play in the AL’s weakest division, yet have gone just 27-27 against Central opponents. Obviously, that will have to change if they harbor any hopes of a playoff return. They won’t get Anderson back until deep into September, prompting the signing of light-hitting veteran Elvis Andrus. Grandal and Kopech should be back when their IL stints expire in coming days.

But the greater boost will be self-improvement and consistency, or, as Giolito put it Wednesday, “keeping that vibe going moving forward.” A greater reward may await if the White Sox can vanquish the foe within.

"If we are able to come through this and still have a chance to win the division and make it to the playoffs," says Hendriks, "I think it’s going to end up being something extremely beneficial we had to battle through that."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: White Sox hope they can push 'demons' aside, make MLB postseason run