Starting with the pitching, the White Sox aren't getting results
Rick Renteria's outlook has changed this season.
In his first two years in the White Sox dugout - which also happened to be the first two years of the rebuild - Renteria was more about wanting to see development and desire.
This year, he wants to start seeing results.
"If anybody believes that anybody in that clubhouse is going to panic, it's not going to happen," Renteria said. "But what we do have to understand is we have to get it done. So these guys are learning and they'll continue to work on the things that they have to. I'd be hard-pressed to say that no one is working. Everybody's doing everything they can to put us in the position to expedite anything we do in terms of correcting any issues we might have.
"Since we've talked since spring training, we're in a mode where we want guys to start getting it done. They're getting great opportunities to pitch at the major-league level, our hitters and position players are getting great opportunities now to go out there and perform.
"It is a performance-based industry, as any professional industry is. It's incumbent on me to make sure they continue to do what they need to in order to give themselves a chance to have success."
The Sox failed to achieve success again on Tuesday afternoon, losing to the Rays 10-5 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
It was the White Sox's fourth straight loss at home, and it was another bad day for the pitching staff, starting with the rotation.
Making his first start for the White Sox after agreeing to a minor-league deal on Feb. 23 and having his contract purchased Tuesday morning, Ervin Santana was hit hard, early and often.
The 36-year-old righty, who was limited to 5 starts with the Twins last season due to a right middle finger injury, pitched 3⅔ innings against the Rays and allowed 7 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks.
"I felt great in the bullpen when I was warming up and then when I got to the mound, I guess I changed my delivery," Santana said. "I guess that was the issue.
"It's not fun when you're always behind in the count. You have to throw strikes and they take advantage of that."
In the 5 games on the homestand, Reynaldo Lopez, Lucas Giolito, Ivan Nova, Carlos Rodon and Santana have combined to pitch 20 innings. The unit has allowed 29 earned runs on 34 hits and 17 walks.
The bullpen has been equally inept at home.
"At some point, we have to look ourselves in the mirror and be accountable to our actions, lack of, whether they are positive or negative," Renteria said after the White Sox dropped to 3-7. "Our expectations are very high. We came into spring with high expectations. I think that at this point are we disappointed? A little bit. Absolutely. They are a little disappointed as well. They are not guys who are wanting to have had the start we are having right now.
"That being said, we are having enough conversations to make sure that everybody is on the same page in that clubhouse and that everybody understands we need to start making some adjustments in order to give ourselves a chance to be able to do what we said we were going to do."
The White Sox's offense has had to battle to come back in all five games on the opening homestand, including Friday when Lopez and the bullpen couldn't protect a 6-1 lead.
"Everyone of us wants to do our best," first baseman/DH Jose Abreu said through a translator. "The pitching staff, they want to do better and they want to give us a chance to win. The same for the offense. When things go wrong, that's when you need to be together and be strong together because it's a long season and a lot of things are going to happen.
"You won't always be good, but you won't always be bad, either, You need to try to find a balance and the only way that you can find that is to stick together."