Above: Pedro Grifol is now the White Sox new manager. Grifol joins the Southsiders after a 9-year stint with the division rival Kansas City Royals. Grifol looks on as he is formally beginning his tenure with the Chicago media in a press conference on Thursday. Photo Credit – Brian Cassella, Chicago Tribune.
The White Sox officially have a new manager. The Southsiders will add Pedro Grifol to take over the role of Tony La Russa in the 2023 season.
Pedro Grifol is the new manager of the Chicago White Sox. he joins the team after a 9-year stint as bench coach with a division rival in the Kansas City Royals.
But how exactly did he get here?
Grifol’s Path to Chicago
The 52-year-old Grifol started his coaching career within the Seattle Mariners organization. He also has some managerial experience, leading the Minor League Class-A High Desert team in 2012. After that, he became a part of the Royals coaching staff. At first, Grifol ran on special assignments, before taking the reins of hitting coach midway through the 2013 season. He would later serve as catching coach, before jumping on the bench coach role in 2020.
Now with Tony La Russa officially announcing he will not return due to health issues, Grifol will be handling the White Sox in 2023.
And, as Lamond Pope of the Chicago Tribune notes here, Grifol has a tough assignment. The White Sox are coming off of a disappointing middle-of-the-pack year, in which they put up an exactly .500 record at 81-81. Grifol has his work cut out for him to fend off the Twins and the perennially competitive Guardians in the AL Central.
However, he is receiving high praise from his new staff. GM Rick Hahn put a statement out saying the following: “Pedro is a bilingual, modern baseball thinker who brings two-plus decades of experience in a variety of roles.”
So with a new team and a new outlook, Pedro Grifol begins his first MLB managerial stint. Only time will tell to determine how the 52-year-old will pan out on the South Side.
