White Sox fans know things could be much worse for manager Will Venable.
His squad is 4-11 through its first 15 games. But a year ago, Pedro Grifol’s team was 2-13 at this point and didn’t reach four wins until the Sox’ 26th game of the season.
Venable’s early record isn’t one that anyone wants. And despite winning a weekend series against the Red Sox, the Sox haven’t done much to suggest they’re headed toward anything dramatically different from the 100-loss finishes of 2023 and 2024.
But while general manager Chris Getz’s rebuilding project moves along slowly, there’s perhaps no better daily sign of things moving in a more favorable direction than Venable. His hiring was met with much acclaim last fall. He’s a respected coach who seemed deserving of a promotion. Even with few wins expected in Year 1, he could make progress simply by establishing a new way of doing things on the South Side.
And his players say he has served admirably through this rough start. They’ve seen the positives up close.
“He’s been great,” outfielder Michael A. Taylor told the Sun-Times on Sunday. “He’s a great communicator, a great baseball mind. I really like how even-keeled he is. Even through the first week and a half when things weren’t looking great, he still was preaching the process and just believing in the group. I think he’s the perfect guy for this team.”
Grifol’s tenure of less than two seasons was defined by a lot of losing, including numerous extended losing streaks during last year’s record-setting 121-loss season. Few moments stick in the mind more than his show of frustration after a quiet offensive day last May against the Orioles, when he described the Sox as “f—ing flat” and got quick pushback from inside the clubhouse.
Venable, however, is earning plaudits for how he’s guiding the Sox through similar stretches, including a winless first road trip that was part of a larger eight-game skid.
“Look at that road trip last week,” right-hander Davis Martin said Saturday. “It’s a tough road trip to go 0-6. Terrible weather, terrible everything. Just really nothing good came out of it. He sits there and talks to us, says, ‘Hey, guys, we’re doing this well, we’re doing this well, we’re doing this well. We’re leading the league in x, y and z. We’re top five in x, y and z.’ He’s like, ‘Stay the course, keep doing what you’re doing.’
“And for all of us, it’s like, ‘Oh, wait, we’re doing a pretty good job in a lot of areas.’ It kind of builds that confidence up.”
The biggest compliments are reserved for Venable’s communication ability, which Getz routinely shouts out. The players go there first, too.
“Coming into spring, being able to sit down with him, I felt like he painted a pretty clear picture of my role,” Taylor said. “[That] allows me to prepare in the most efficient way, knowing exactly where I’m going to be playing, where the bulk of my work will come. . . . It’s helpful as a player.
“I’ve had a lot of good managers. Dusty Baker’s one of the greatest of all time, in my opinion, and he was also a great communicator, just a good person, a good people person. And Will has a lot of those same attributes.”
That’s as positive a compliment as there is, with Baker seen as a future Hall of Famer as a manager. The success he made routine — 10 division titles, three pennants and a World Series in his career — might not be there for Venable out of the gate, but there’s plenty he can accomplish as the Sox look to turn their fortunes around.
The record is an obvious negative. But the reviews so far have been positive.