Red Sox travel to Chicago in hopes of keeping Wild Card dreams alive

CHICAGO, IL - MAY 13: Chicago White Sox outfielder Derek Hill (25), center fielder Tristan Peters (29) and right fielder Jarred Kelenic (24) celebrate their victory over the Kansas City Royals as mascot Southpaw runs with the flag after an MLB game on May 13, 2026, at Rate Field in Chicago, IL. (Pho

What is the story about?

Fresh off a sweep of the Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim) the Boston Red Sox head to Chicago to take on a rejuvenated White Sox team. Possibly outsmarted by (checks notes) Chris Getz, Craig Breslow’s team has been taking a step back while the other Sox skipped the “improve’ step of the rebuilding process and went right to Division Leader.

Chase Meidroth is hitting .268/.339/.378 with 7 homers.

Brandon Montgomery is at .233/.309/.395 with 2 homers.

Kyle Teel has missed most of the season but in the 11

games he’s played he’s put up a .220/.304/.390 slash line with 2 homers.

Garrett Crochet, who the Sox got for this haul, hasn’t done much in 2026.

So, the White Sox owe a little “thank you” to Boston for their bounce back.

Payton Tolle was ambushed by the Washington Nationals for 6 runs in just 3.0 innings. He wasn’t throwing hard. It was almost 100 degrees. Hopefully he bounces right back with Connelly Early and (probably) Ranger Suarez joining Crochet in the IL void. Mass Pike is opposed by Noah Schultz. A 22-year-old southpaw, Schultz is in his first major league season. In 9 starts he’s tossed 43 innings while striking out 40, walking 26, and allowing 29 runs (28 earned).

Another one of the Sox young lefty starters, Jake Bennett has been cruising. His outing against the Angels was 7.2 innings of two-run ball with 6 Ks against 0 walks. You might say “well that’s the Angels” and he was basically as good against the Yankees. Regardless of opponent right now, Bennett looks like a promising major league starter. Righthander David Martin has been a real gem for the White Sox, but not without his struggles. Two of his last five starts have been 3.1 innings including his most recent. He can struggle with walks in his down outings but overall doesn’t walk many people. So patience might be a good plan for Boston batters.

The finale is currently TBD but that’s likely to be Patrick Sandoval. The lefty was last seen in 2024 when he needed Tommy John surgery and missed the entire 2025 season. Finally healthy, across two levels in the minors during his rehab, Sandoval put up a 3.42 ERA over 23.2 innings. He’s struck out 22 against 13 walks. His best year was 2022, so it’s been a minute since he was both healthy and good and 25. Now 29 what does he have left? OTM’s own Jake Roy answers that question in detail. With starts dropping like flies and Sonny Gray possibly on the trade block, we’re about to find out. Anthony Kay, a lefty who spent the last two years in Japan, has been a bit better than he was during his first five major league seasons in MLB. But he’s still not great. He’s leading the league HBPs. He has 67 Ks over 84 innings against 33 walks.

Munetaka Murakami hit 20 homers before hitting the IL.

Old friend Andrew Benintendi is still in Chicago hitting .240/.298/.424 with 10 homers.