The only drawback to the White Sox hiring a brand-new manager is that there's no data about what Pedro Grifol may or may not do.
Even when the White Sox brought Tony La Russa out of retirement, I could look up his managerial record from the last Bill James Handbook he appeared in to try to forecast what tendencies he might bring to the 2020s, because I still keep 10-year-old almanacs on my bookshelf. There's no such record on Pedro Grifol -- at least if you don't want to make him culpable in any way for Mike Matheny's track record, and I'd rather absolve him of all association there.
But hey, at least we can go back to that post and see how it fared. The data is not as precise as it could be since Miguel Cairo managed the last 34 games, and those 34 games go on his record since La Russa announced that he wouldn't return, but with that caveat aside...
Lots of lineups: The White Sox used 153 and 158 lineups over 162 games in La Russa's two seasons, which was above average, but not enough to lead the league in either year (AJ Hinch used 161 with the Tigers in 2023).
A variety of save lengths and sources: Liam Hendriks' bout of arm soreness cramped La Russa's style in his second season, as the White Sox only recorded two long saves after nine in 2021. Six White Sox relievers recorded a save in 2022, but that's not a remarkable number because every team had at least five guys with a save (the Yankees led the way with 13).
Lots of active relievers: The White Sox actually had enviable stability in their bullpen. They used only 15 relievers over the course of the 2022 season, with only the Astros requiring fewer to get through the season (14). The Cubs led the league with 29 relievers used, and the Rays were one reliever behind them.
Fewer strikeouts: The White Sox finished with a bottom-10 strikeout rate over La Russa's two seasons after logging the fifth-highest strikeout rate in the abbreviated 2020 season.
Three and a half tendencies carried over, and the one that didn't was due to Rick Hahn's (over)investment in the relief corps (and a shallow pool of worthy relievers in Triple-A that reduces the ability to churn for fresh arms). I'll take it as a small victory, although it's probably a Pyrrhic one because La Russa was managing in the first place. It'd be cool if Grifol had any kind of similar recent data to mine, but I'll take consolation in the fact that the Sox actually had a process for him.
Anyway, here are some White Sox fun/"fun" facts that jumped out to me while thumbing through this year's Bill James Handbook. Here's a way to pick up your own copy (affiliate link; Sox Machine receives a portion of the proceeds):
Offense
*The White Sox's top finisher in the ATP-style hitter rankings is Eloy Jiménez at No. 65, now that the 31st-best hitter José Abreu is on the Astros.
*Yoán Moncada lost more hits to the shift than any White Sox with seven, but the Sox only lost one hit to the shift on the whole, with 151 hits lost to 150 gained by thwarting them.
*Sox baserunners tied for 15th in baserunning with 26 bases gained. It's a little bit overreliant on their stolen-base efficiency, but they finished -2 last year, so you have to take what you can get.
*Andrew Vaughn had the 10th-lowest first-pitch swing percentage among qualifying hitters, which makes it all the more confusing that he drew just 31 walks.
*A.J. Pollock led the American League with a .403 average in close and late situations. No, really.
Pitching
*Dylan Cease surged from No. 35 to No. 7 in the pitcher rankings, while Lucas Giolito slipped from 12th to 49th, and Lance Lynn 16th to 77th.
*Johnny Cueto benefited the most of any White Sox pitcher from the team's increased shifting, gaining nine extra outs from defensive alignments.
*Cease threw the highest percentage of sliders with 42.9 percent. Shohei Ohtani came closest at 39 percent.
*Reynaldo López had the ninth-lowest OBP allowed among AL relievers at .255.
*Liam Hendriks went 0-for-2 in tough saves in 2022 after going 4-for-4 in 2021.
Defense
*The White Sox were the only team without a positive number in Defensive Runs Saved at any position. They broke even at third base, and everywhere else was in the red.
*The Sox had the most fielding errors (as opposed to throwing errors) in the American League with 59, and they won by 12. The Pirates blew the Sox out of the water with 72 of them.
*Sox catchers combined to lead all of baseball in passed balls with 15.
*Keuchel's absence was felt when it came to pitching defense, as the Sox finished with the second-worst DRS by pitchers (-12).
*Nobody shifted more from 2021 to 2022 than the White Sox, increasing by 1,070 to finish in the middle of the pack. Just in time for it not to matter.
PERTINENT: The White Sox are shifting more, but to little effect
Miscellaneous
*The La Russa/Cairo combination led all of baseball with 49 pinch-running substitutions.
*The White Sox only had the platoon advantage 47 percent of the time, which was tied for second-worst in the AL. However, the Astros had the worst platoon advantage percentage in the AL, so it comes down more to the quality of hitters.
*The White Sox were tied with the fewest overturned calls in their favor with 12, while 18 calls were overturned against them.
*The reconfiguring of Oriole Park means that Guaranteed Rate Field is now the most generous run-scoring environment in the American League, particularly for left-handed power hitters.
*Gavin Sheets has the fifth-highest injury risk among hitters entering 2023, which is weird since he's never really missed time at any level. The risk seems to be attributable to playing out of position, and the uncomfortable nature of his diving attempts.
