‘He’s got some fire in him’: Pedro Grifol focused on the here and now as he begins 1st season as Chicago White Sox manager

Pedro Grifol sets expectations roughly seven to 10 days at a time.

“I don’t talk about anything past (that),” the Chicago White Sox manager said recently. “I think it keeps you in the moment. It keeps you right where you’re thinking about, ‘OK, where am I right now? Where do I need to be in the next five days seven days?’

“When you get caught up too far ahead, you don’t worry about what’s going on right now. You lose sight of what you need to accomplish in this particular moment.”

This seven-day period will include a first — Grifol’s debut as a major-league manager in a regular-season game with the Sox.

That comes Thursday night against the defending champion Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. But even Tuesday morning, Grifol’s mind wasn’t on the trip, rather the final game of the spring against the Cubs.

“Maybe (Wednesday) you can ask that questions and I’ll say, ‘Yeah, I’m excited,’ ” Grifol said before the game in Mesa, Ariz. “I’m excited for (Wednesday) because we’re practicing, but right now I’m not there yet. I’m going through stuff with (pitching coach) Ethan (Katz), going through pitching for the day, how we’re going to get through this game.

“Maybe when I get on the plane I’ll feel different, but not right now.”

Grifol, 53, spent the 10 previous seasons in various roles with the Kansas City Royals, including the last three as bench coach.

“The last two years in Kansas City I got to know him pretty well,” Sox left fielder Andrew Benintendi, who played for the Royals in 2021 and a part of 2022, told the Tribune. “He’s very adamant about getting your work done, getting your ground balls, baserunning, hitting, going back to the little things and focusing on those.

“I’ve had four or five managers and communication is always the one thing a player wants the most of, whether it be good or bad, just tell us straight up. That’s something we look for and that (Grifol) does pretty well.”

General manager Rick Hahn has noticed that communication from Grifol throughout the organization.

“It’s not just the communication with the front office, but it’s also got to be his communication with the players directly, his communication with his coaches in spring training, the player-development folks, as well as our scouts,” Hahn told the Tribune. “And it’s a lot to ask, but he obviously was very well-prepared when he entered this position. And I’m sure he had spent a lot of time thinking how he would manage a spring once he did get his opportunity.

“(It) really feels like no stones have been left unturned. The focus on certain priorities (during workouts in the backfield) has been great. There’s been no eye wash, there’s no idle time. It’s really been, he and his coaches, it’s been great.”

Sox hitting coach José Castro said Grifol is “very detailed, very smart.”

“He’s got some fire in him,” Castro said earlier in camp. “Amazing guy. Very, very good communicator, just the whole package.”

Sox starter Lucas Giolito enjoyed Grifol’s approach to camp “as far as being very focused, creating that good culture, bringing everyone together (and) working for a common goal.”

Grifol thought it was a productive camp.

“I was really happy with the camp and the amount of things that were happening throughout,” he said. “The intensity level was good, the work was good. We’re still working on things. Maybe that’s just me and my mindset — we’ve always got to find a way to get better.”

Honest feedback from those close to him is helping Grifol in that area.

“I have my coaching staff, I have my people that cross-check me and keep me in check,” he said earlier in camp. “I get evaluated, too, by people that I put in place to evaluate me and keep it real with me and tell me where I need to improve. And always telling me areas of strength and areas of development I need.

“I have a group of people that keep me honest and (who are) not afraid to tell me you suck. You need to get better.”

Grifol said he was once a victim of looking too far ahead and changed that habit a few years ago.

“I’m always locked in,” he said. “You almost program yourself to it. For years and years, you look at the schedule and like ‘OK, June we are going here and we want to do this.’ We are at the end of March. I’m focused about right now.”

White Sox make 7 roster moves

The Sox announced seven roster moves after Monday’s game, reassigning pitcher Keynan Middleton, catcher Sebastián Rivero, infielders Erik González and Zach Remillard and outfielders Billy Hamilton, Adam Haseley and Jake Marisnick to minor-league camp.

With the moves, the Sox have 33 players remaining in camp: 18 pitchers, two catchers, nine infielders and four outfielders.