White Sox pick fitting interim manager, and ... are the Braves okay?

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We have more fallout from the Pedro Grifol firing. Plus, Matt Gelb joins our beat writer Q&A, we preview a huge series in the AL Central and also ask: Are the Braves going to be OK? I’m Levi Weaver — welcome to The Windup!

Fallout: More on White Sox and Grifol

Thanks again to Stephen Nesbitt for pinch-hitting yesterday, and a hat-tip to our editor Jason Kirk, because just as his finger was hovering over the “send” button, the news broke: Pedro Grifol was out with a 28-89 record on the year, 89-190 overall.

Since then, the White Sox announced that former big-league outfielder Grady Sizemore has been named interim manager. Sizemore once took a $15-an-hour internship to kick-start a coaching career, which feels like the perfect resume item for this job, somehow. Especially when GM Chris Getz took the unusual step of saying out loud that neither Sizemore — nor any other member of the current coaching staff — would be under consideration for the full-time role next season.

“I think it’s important to bring in a new voice,” Getz said. “A fresh voice, perhaps that’s been exposed to areas of this game that we don’t currently have in our organization.”

As to which “areas of this game” he was talking about, I’ll let you insert your own punchline; it’ll be hard to pick one that doesn’t work.

Jon Greenberg had two columns in the immediate wake of the Grifol firing. In the first, he takes a look at some potential candidates to take the job in 2025, and in the second, he surmises that Grifol and the Sox are better off without each other.

More losing streak: Tyler Kepner’s “Sliders” column tracks down the 1961 Phillies, who hold the modern era’s recently threatened losing-streak record, 23 games.
More Weird & Wildness: Jayson Stark’s flagship column sees the White Sox — plus a lot more — through his unique lens.

Beat Writer Q&A: Can Phillies manage pitching load?

Originally from the greater Philadelphia area and a graduate of Syracuse University, Matt Gelb has been covering the Phillies since 2010. For context, that’s the one year between Cliff Lee’s first and second round with the team. He’s our fifth and final beat writer Q&A this week — Ken Rosenthal will be back on Monday.

What is your favorite piece you wrote in the first half (and why)?

Matt: Two springs ago, I wanted to know more about Edmundo Sosa and how he came to love baseball as a teenager in Panama. I had no idea how incredible a story he had to tell. Then, he went into a slump and stopped playing. I never found the right chance to write it. So, when he stepped in for Trea Turner in May and lit the league on fire, it was a perfect time. There’s a lot of rewarding types of stories, but to me, the best are the ones that reveal something new to casual and die-hard fans. Few people knew Sosa’s backstory.

What is the Phillies’ top storyline in the second half?

It’s all about the pitching. Can they keep their top nine pitchers — four starters and five relievers — healthy and effective going into October? If they can, they will be the favorites to win it all. And rightfully so. The pitching carried the Phillies in the first three months of the season. They have won 28 straight games when their starter goes seven innings. Now, come postseason time, they’ll be more aggressive with the bullpen. That is a unit that has been leaking oil for the last month, but it’s filled with powerful arms. The Phillies will have to strike a balance in August and September; they want to win, but they want to protect their pitchers. If there’s more rest for certain guys, can they stay sharp?

Every team has Stars of the Past™️ that can be seen regularly around the ballpark. Is there one in Philadelphia that you most enjoy talking to?

Larry Bowa is still a regular presence at Citizens Bank Park, and he hasn’t lost a step at 78. He is still active on the field once or twice a homestand for pregame infield work with the players. (One of the T-shirts in Trea Turner’s current rotation has an enlarged Bowa baseball card on it.) Bowa hasn’t been on the field in an official capacity for almost a decade now, but his perspective remains invaluable. He likes to go see the club’s minor-league affiliates and you can still hear the passion in his voice when he sees something he likes. And, while he’s mellowed over the years, he is not afraid to tell it like it is.

Standings Watch: Guardians/Twins battle for the Central

Earlier this week, we previewed Dodgers/Phillies, noting that the series featured two division leaders mired in an extended malaise (the Phillies won two out of three, by the way).

Not to be redundant, but Cleveland and Minnesota are limping into a four-game series that begins with a doubleheader today. Both teams are currently in a playoff spot — the Guardians lead the AL Central, and the Twins are 3 1/2 games back and currently in the third wild-card position. By Monday night, the Twins could lead the division, or they could be 7 1/2 games back, or somewhere in between.

But neither team is looking particularly hot as they prepare for the faceoff.

Cleveland is on a five-game losing streak (albeit one that followed a five-game winning streak).
Minnesota, similarly, had a five-game winning streak snapped recently, and has since lost two straight. Even with that streak, the Twins are 10-10 in their last 20 games.

Beat writers Zack Meisel and Dan Hayes jumped into a back-and-forth today to preview the series. Summarized: Both teams have good lineups, and both are currently scrambling to overcome a starting pitching crisis.

Uh, don’t look now, but if this ends up in a 2-2 split, don’t be surprised to see a new second-place team in the division: The Royals are 7-3 in their last 10 games, and sit just a half-game behind the Twins.

Another twist: While the Guardians/Twins series will mash four games into three days, the Royals are playing a short two-game series against the Cardinals today and tomorrow. They’re off Sunday, and will be fully rested for a three-game series in Minnesota starting Monday.

More Twins: You know who isn’t part of the Twins’ rotation concerns? Bailey Ober. He’s been very good.

Investigations: Is switch-hitting going away?

When I was a freshman in high school, I showed up to my first day of practice prepared to take batting practice the way I had since I was 9 years old: half from the right side, half from the left.

“Nope,” my coach said. “We don’t do that here. Right or left; pick one.”

I’ve spent a lot of years annoyed by that. Why wouldn’t a high school coach want a player with a more diverse skill set? Turns out, Coach Lierman was — for better or worse — ahead of the curve. Jason Lloyd has a story today on how switch-hitting is becoming more and more rare in the big leagues: “Of the roughly 550 batters to log a plate appearance through the end of June, only 58 were switch hitters, according to Stathead.”

Lloyd spoke to a number of switch hitters (and coaches) about the practice, how the players got started with it, and the potential benefits and difficulties. It’s niche, sure, but it’s interesting stuff.

As to why it’s going away, Mariners manager Scott Servais puts it best in Lloyd’s story, speaking about youth baseball (where most switch-hitters pick up the practice:

“Mom and Dad are paying a lot of money to put you in front of all of the top coaches. Why would we ever put you in a situation where you might fail? And you’re going to fail. Switch hitting is really hard. It’s really hard when you’re young. And they’re afraid of failure.”

It’s a thought-provoking article that I’m not sure I have a strong opinion on, beyond: C’mon Coach. Switch-hitting is cool.

Vibe Check: Are the Braves going to be okay?

What’s happening in Atlanta isn’t a “choke.” Ronald Acuña Jr. was the first 40/70 player in history last year, winning NL MVP. He played 49 games this year before a knee injury ended the rest of his season.

Spencer Strider finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting a year ago. He threw nine innings before his UCL gave out this season. 2022 Rookie of the Year Michael Harris II (hamstring) hasn’t played since June 14. Three-time All-Star Ozzie Albies has a fractured wrist. Max Fried just got back from an IL stint for “forearm neuritis,” which sounds like a zombie disease.

But it’s the Braves, right? Each blow — while certainly not insignificant — has felt … surmountable on its own.

Since the first of July, though, three expected contributors — Matt Olson, Eddie Rosario and Jarred Kelenic — have batting averages under .200. Sean Murphy (.211) and Adam Duvall (.220) aren’t doing much better.
On the pitching side, as David O’Brien tells us: “Atlanta pitchers allowed a season-high 20 hits Thursday and at least 16 hits in all three games (against the Brewers), the first time that’s happened to the Braves in 90 years, since the 1934 Boston Braves endured the ignominy.”

Atlanta’s best player this year? Reynaldo López (3.7 bWAR). Oh, and he’s on the injured list too. Right forearm inflammation.

So maybe it shouldn’t be so surprising that the Braves have lost five straight, are three games under .500 since July 1, or that last night’s loss dropped them just behind the Mets and out of a playoff spot.

Is that the first time this year they haven’t been in at least a wild-card position? Uh, yeah. This year, and last year, and the last half of 2022, in fact.

Handshakes and High Fives

When Jack Flaherty takes the mound at Dodger Stadium tonight, he’ll be in a familiar place: He’s been going to games there since he was a little kid.

Is Jed Hoyer on the hot seat in Chicago? And how are we feeling about Cody Bellinger’s odds of opting in to stay with the Cubs next year? Sahadev Sharma’s Q&A addresses that and more.

Will Sammon sifts through the numbers to answer the question: Just what kind of season is Pete Alonso having, anyway?

Rain delays and a blown save weren’t enough to keep the Giants from getting above .500 for the first time since May. They’re currently three games out of a playoff spot.

The Tigers were up 3-1 in Seattle with the bases loaded, one strike away from a sweep of the Mariners. Instead …