Happy Thursday to the first-place . The surprising Chicago club currently sits atop the AL Central, half a game ahead of the Cleveland Guardians, marking the first time they’ve been in first place later than the first 11 games of the season since winning the division in 2021.
They are now 36-31, which puts them on pace to win 87 games. Keep in mind, the White Sox lost 101 games in 2023, 121 in 2024 and 102 last season. The way they are playing right now represents a monster leap forward and they are one of the best stories in baseball in 2026. Something else to consider: They didn’t start the season hot. They were 0-3, then 1-5, then 6-13. None of that matters now.
Since losing a heartbreaker in 11 innings on April 18, the White Sox are 29-17, which is tied for the best mark in the American League in that span and is only worse than the in all of baseball.
The Braves have the best record in baseball. They had only lost two series all season before dealing with these upstart White Sox. I said “had” because the White Sox have won the first two games of that three-game series. On Thursday, they have the opportunity to be the first team to sweep the mighty Braves this season.
This was supposed to be the stretch that buried the White Sox. They lost two of three to the and then were staring at a stretch of the schedule with the Braves, and coming up. is hurt. What’s worse, is dealing with back tightness and couldn’t play Tuesday or Wednesday.
No matter, prospect is here with a cape. He hit a on Tuesday against All-Star closer .
He then went 2 for 4 with two doubles on Wednesday, doubling to lead off the fourth against former White Sox star and then scored the first run of the game on a single.
On the hill, outpitched Sale, moving to 9-2 with a 2.41 ERA.
The vibes are sky high.
So how are the White Sox doing it and, more importantly, is it sustainable?
The White Sox have a trio of hitters on pace to top 38 home runs this season in Murakami, Colson Montgomery and . Only 16 players in franchise history have ever gotten there and only once have they seen two players do it in the same season (Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome in 2006).
As a team, the White Sox are fourth in home runs behind the Yankees, Dodgers and Braves this season. They are sixth in slugging percentage. Keep in mind, Murakami will come back at some point and Montgomery has proven to be an early threat. In part-time duty, has six homers in 57 at-bats with a .667 slugging percentage. Further, will be around for the second half, if not a little sooner, and he increases the offensive production from the catcher position.
It isn’t just the main power sources, of course. The White Sox are getting good offensive production up and down the lineup. is a quality average and on-base guy. has been better. has a 121 OPS+ and is proving an excellent pickup from this past offseason from the scrap heap. contract hasn’t been good, but maybe he’s picking it up, having hit .270/.372/.541 in his last 12 games. Perhaps and/or can help in the second half after returning from injury.
The White Sox rank seventh in on-base percentage, helping them to sit fifth in OPS.
This is a good offense with the potential for elite power down the stretch if everything comes together.
The White Sox are middle of the road in both rotation and bullpen ERA. Martin has looked like an ace so far and has been pretty good. For now, (91 ERA+) and (97 ERA+) are perfectly adequate to help hold down the fort, while the fifth spot is pieced together. There’s still hope for despite a rough start to his career (8.10 ERA in 13 ⅓ innings), as he was great with Triple-A Charlotte before his promotion.
The White Sox can, of course, look for help down the line from 2025 All-Star and 2026 Opening Day starter . He was awful in three starts before being demoted to the minors and he’s working back from biceps tendinitis.
The hunch here is Chris Getz’s front office will be eager to land a starting pitcher in July via the trade market. No, I’m not suggesting blowing up the farm for a rental (though the prospect of prying from the is tantalizing). Adding a mid-rotation starter for depth down the stretch will be a big help.
As for the bullpen, manager Will Venable is finding his groove with a by-committee approach at the end of games, using Seranthony Domínguez in addition to and , while has also been mostly effective in late-game situations.
If there’s an area of concern, it’s the underbelly of the pitching staff as a whole. The thing is, it’s not like the pitching has been lights out or anything so far and in-season additions can only help. I don’t see why things would fall off a proverbial cliff or anything.
Anyone skimming this thing and seeing the subhead here will assume this is a shot at the White Sox. It’s not. The White Sox are 13-16 against teams .500 and above this season and that’s perfectly acceptable for an upstart team in a weak division. I already mentioned that they face the Dodgers and Yankees after this Braves series.
Even with those difficult games in the coming days, the White Sox have one of the easiest remaining schedules in baseball from this point forward. After that Yankees series, the White Sox only have 26 games left against teams currently above .500 and literally half of those are divisional opportunities against the . Sure, records can and will change as the season progresses, but I view this as another area where the White Sox have a great shot to remain in contention, even if they start playing a bit worse (it happens over the course of 162). You can only face the teams on your schedule.
This thing is very workable.
Some playoff projection systems don’t love the White Sox. SportsLine has them with a 34% chance to win the division but a 53.7% chance to make the playoffs. That’s great, especially given where they have come from the last few years. I’d be a bit more bullish than any numbers might say, though.
Don’t discount mentality in the clubhouse and dugout. Players are human beings, not robots into which you can just plug their tools grades and see what spits out. Large samples of playing losing baseball can snowball and mentality absolutely plays into things like situational hitting or bullpen meltdowns. “Here we go again” can permeate a ballclub, even if players don’t want to admit it. We can use similar sentiment with young teams tasting their first success over the course of, say, a 29-17 stretch.
That would be more of a “HERE WE GO AGAIN!”
Anyone who watched the first two games of the series against the best team in baseball could see it. These White Sox don’t feel overmatched. They were losing late on Tuesday and never felt like they couldn’t come back. That stuff can matter. Teams can’t ride it all the way to a World Series title without a lot of talent and breaks along the way, but it helps.
This bunch has the feel of one that can ride vibes through stretches of physical underperformance.
They’ll still do things like lose two in three in Minnesota like they did last week, but their positive attitude and belief can help them bounce back more easily than when they had the 121-loss vibes with a manager unfit for the position.
They have the look of a playoff team. Whether it’s as a wild card or a division winner might well come down to those 13 head-to-heads against the Guardians.
