KEEPING IT NON-TOXIC
Vets Leone, Pillar praise Grifol for nurturing positivity
PHILADELPHIA — Dominic Leone has been on disappointing teams throughout his 11-year career. The right-handed reliever pitched for a 93-loss Diamondbacks team in 2016 and the pricey, underachieving Mets who went 75-87 in 2023.
He was on winning teams, as well, in Seattle and St. Louis, including the Cardinals’ 2021 division champ. And he posted a 1.51 ERA in 57 games for a Giants team that won 107 games in 2021.
Now he’s holding down a spot for a White Sox team that’s making history in all the wrong ways.
“It’s tough,” Leone said.
“This game will bring you to your knees,” 12th-year outfielder Kevin Pillar told the Sun-Times.
“But I will say for a [3-17 team after a 9-5 loss to the Phillies on Saturday night], we have the right nucleus here,” Leone said.
“We have the right mindset here. The right players, the right guys doing everything they can to battle out of it. But we’ve had some tough breaks.
“When your top three guys get banged up in the first week, it comes as a shock. And it’s not like we’re playing bad competition. The teams we’re facing have really good talent. It’ll come.”
The Sox were projected as a 100-loss team with no chance of making the postseason during spring training. They rallied around that but now have no shot of proving anyone wrong with Luis Robert Jr. and Yoan Moncada, their top two position players, injured for lengthy periods. Eloy Jimenez, who is back after getting hurt during the first series of the season, is 4-for-26 with no extra-base hits.
“I understand in today’s game expectations are always high, no matter who it is,” Leone, 32, said. “And you always want to see results.
After the work we did in spring training, even us, we thought it would translate faster. But it just hasn’t.”
There’s no getting past the humbling quiet of the clubhouse after almost every game. After their three victories, it was boisterous beyond measure. You celebrate when you can.
By Saturday, the Sox had turned the page, and there was a looseness about the room.
Through these first three weeks, Leone and Pillar have seen no signs of cracking. Not yet, anyway.
“Almost to a man in this room everyone will tell you they are not happy with what is going on [individually],” Pillar said. “But you come in here every day, and you hardly know it. People are positive, upbeat and they enjoy each other’s company. If you sulk and feel sorry for ourselves and for what is going on on the field, it’s going to make for a very long year.”
“We have to move forward and stay positive, and we have a good group for that,” Leone said. “We have guys that really bust their [butt], really doing things the right way. Hopefully, it’s going to translate and the baseball gods will shine some light on us here soon.”
Leone has played for Buck Showalter, Lloyd McClendon, Chip Hale, Mike Shildt, Terry Francona, Gabe Kapler and Scott Servais. While manager Pedro Grifol is coming under increasing scrutiny, even though most acknowledge he’s up against it because of the roster he’s managing, Leone has an approval vote in his pocket for him.
“I do,” Leone said. “Look, he’s going to shoot you straight. He’s going to be honest, and he’s willing to listen. His door is always open. It’s one of those things, he wants the best for us, truly, as a manager. He wants the best for the 26 guys in here. And everyone as a whole feels we’re all pushing in the same direction.”
Pillar said Grifol is “doing a good job making sure this place is not a toxic environment” in these “dark times.”
“He knows he’s been dealt a tough hand, especially with injuries,” Pillar said. “But he’s doing a good job nurturing positivity with a lot of these young guys.”