I’m still looking at that ‘31-27’ number with some level of disbelief. I have typically been on the sunnier side than many of colleagues in prognosticating the future of the White Sox. It took until August of 2024 for me to think that they really, truly had a chance at reaching 121 in the loss column. In 2025, I remained confident that they would keep it together enough to be an ordinarily bad 100-loss team, rather than maintaining the 2024-esque pace they played with for the first two months of that season.
This year, I predicted they’d reach the 70-win mark for the first time in four seasons. Maybe they could make a second-half push for .500 ball if everything the mid-season call-ups are just as effective as they were last season.
This, though? Even for my eternally hopeful brain, the idea that they would be over .500 with a hold on a Wild Card slot as late as June felt ludicrous. Yet here we are.
Perhaps the most surprising part is that while a LOT of important things have gone more right than I ever imagined—-Murakami setting records, Colson Montgomery maintaining his 2025 pace, Miguel Vargas adding 3 mpg of bat speed and turning into a bona fide middle-of-the-order hitter, Randal Grichuk finding the fountain of youth, Davis Martin finally fulfilling my long-held fantasy of competing for a spot on an All-Star roster—there have still been plenty of duds that they’ve nonetheless overcome. The Opening Day starter was back in Triple-A after three games. The primary trade return for Luis Robert Jr. looks like he isn’t a major league-caliber player. Injuries have led to far more plate appearances from Jarred Kelenic, Derek Hill, and Tristan Peters than anyone would have thought ideal. Erick Fedde remains completely washed, Noah Schultz struggled in his first action with the big club. Kyle Teel has yet to play and Edgar Quero has spent much of the last month seemingly on the verge of being demoted. Seranthony Domínguez has avoided many meltdowns but has already lost a secure grip on the closer job despite being signed for that exact purpose.
Yet here we are, once again. The last time the Sox reached five games above the breakeven mark was September of 2022. Here’s the getaway day lineup we’re getting as they try to set themselves up to reach their highest water mark since the halcyon days of 2020-2021. I can only presume that you, like me, are quite invested in Jacob Gonzalez first look on the South Side, given the absurd 19 homers he’s already cranked in Triple-A. If he can keep up anything close to like that, it’ll certainly go down as one of the more remarkable bust-to-boom prospect stories in recent memory.
he Tigers, meanwhile, have treaded the opposite path and undergone an utter shitshow of a season in which they were division favorites and World Series contenders, and are instead racing towards a very early draft pick in 2027.
The Sox last swept the Tigers in 2023, which is not what I expected to find. That series was also in late May, and after winning the second game in walk-off fashion, they secured the sweep with a Jake Burger grand slam to end it. It may have legitimately been the high point of the 2023 season.
Here’s the lineup that Seattle manager Dan Wilson will be sending out against Kay this evening.
First pitch at Rate Field is a in just under an hour at 1:10 p.m. CT. If you want to join us, broadcasts are available on CHSN (TV) and WMVP AM 1000 (radio), like always!
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