Two days after the Chicago White Sox’s historic losing streak came to an end, they decided to move on from their manager.
Manager Pedro Grifol has been fired, the White Sox announced Thursday.
“As we all recognize, our team’s performance this season has been disappointing on many levels,” White Sox senior vice president/general manager Chris Getz said in a statement. “Despite the on-field struggles and lack of success, we appreciate the effort and professionalism Pedro and the staff brought to the ballpark every day. These two seasons have been very challenging. Unfortunately, the results were not there, and a change is necessary as we look to our future and the development of a new energy around the team.”
The White Sox recently went on a 21-game losing streak, tying the record for the longest skid in AL history. It was also just two games short of the record for the longest losing streak in MLB history.
While the White Sox ended the losing streak with a win against the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday, the streak was just the tipping point of a bad year in Chicago. The White Sox lost again on Wednesday, blowing a two-run lead to the Athletics, to drop their record to 28-89. That’s the worst mark in MLB by 15 games.
Chicago is on pace to finish 39-122, which would be the worst major league record since the National League’s Cleveland Spiders were 20-134 in 1899.
Grifol was in the middle of his second season as a major league manager after a long career in the game, lugging an 89-190 record.
He was the first manager fired this season.
Chicago said a replacement will likely be hired after the season. Bench coach Charlie Montoyo was a possibility to take over as interim manager. He managed the Toronto Blue Jays from 2019-22.
The White Sox had a 14-game losing streak from May 22-June 6, setting a team season record that lasted only until the skid that followed the All-Star break.
“My mentality and the way I look at things is we’re all in this thing together, and I’m the first one to take blame for anything that happens on this team. I’m the manager, right? And I’ve done that since day one. I did it last year. I’ll do it again this year,” Grifol said on July 30. “I don’t hide away from blame. Blame is what it is. I’ve got the position, the office, that’s the chair. I would never blame our players for this season. That’s not my makeup.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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