White Sox manager Will Venable talks starting from zero, expectations this upcoming season
Will Venable was realistic about the mess he was inheriting last season as a rookie manager.
While the rebuilding White Sox remain committed to developing their young talent, Venable wants to win now and wants to start from zero, starting with this camp.
"That means well, number one, I think that's something you have to do every year, but certainly with our club, and you look at going back to the second half, you know these guys did a great job, Venable said. "We had some young guys come up, we had a really productive offseason where these guys got better, we added to our talent group, and so you kind of feel like you're coming in with some momentum."
He said to capture that momentum, the team must start at zero and create habits that lead to wins.
"Getting in the training room, you know, getting the weight room, you know, the things on the field that we know contribute to winning and just really dominating all those things," Venable said.
During his first year on the job as manager, Venable said he's learned a lot, but the one thing he pointed out was learning what the team needed from him.
"That can mean a lot of different things. Whether that's a pat on the back, whether that's a kick in the rear, a different tone, a different message, whatever that might be. It kind of changed and evolved over the year. I have a better understanding what that means day-to-day," he said.
As for what he thinks is the biggest competition spot on the team, Venable said that the starting rotation was opened up to about ten players who were invited to compete for a starting role.
"I think … in general, you know, we have a couple guys with guaranteed contracts, but I think in the spirit of, you know, competing and bringing the best out of the guys that we can have a message that there's open competition throughout this roster," he said.
As he starts his second season as manager, he said his expectationswill be based on the process.
"As far as wins and losses go, that will all take care of itself. You know, for us, it really is going to be about the process and can we create habits around these things, you know, and that's what you know, we're going to set expectations for and hold guys accountable to. And that's going to be, you know, how I measure out success on a daily basis," he said.