The Chicago White Sox had a season to forget in 2022.
After reaching the postseason in back-to-back years, the team entered the season as the favorites to win the AL Central.
However, the Cleveland Guardians caught fire and left everybody else in the dust, including the White Sox, who won just 81 games and finished 11 games out of first place.
Reliever Joe Kelly was in the first year of his two-year contract with the White Sox.
The right-hander struggled, going 1-3 with a 6.08 ERA.
However, when asked about the White Sox’s struggles, Kelly didn’t hold back and got quite brutally honest.
“I could have managed the team and we could have finished .500,” Kelly said. “Tony left, Miguel took over and we still sucked. We played like crap,” he added.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweeted a link to a story featuring Kelly’s comments.
No excuses: The Chicago #WhiteSox, with no one to blame but themselves, out to prove embarrassing 2022 season was an aberration. https://t.co/GuqDRwVvkK
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 7, 2023
It certainly wasn’t a year to be proud of.
The White Sox had a solid team on paper, but couldn’t get going and ultimately finished at .500.
And Kelly certainly didn’t hold back.
In fact, he was about as blunt as he could possibly be when assessing the team’s struggles in 2022.
However, with a new manager in Pedro Grifol, they’ll look to make some adjustments so that they can return to the postseason.
They made a few key moves this winter to strengthen their club, signing right-hander Mike Clevinger to a one-year, $12 million deal and also inking outfielder Andrew Benintendi to a five-year, $75 million deal.
The White Sox made sure to make some improvements this offseason and now look prepared to take the next step and book a return trip to the postseason.
They’ll have to deal with the Guardians and Minnesota Twins, both of whom had solid offseasons.
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