What's Even The Point Of The Chicago White Sox?
If there's ever been a single-season team bad enough to make its fans hope the organization leaves for a different city, it's the 2024 Chicago White Sox. And the season isn't even a full month old yet.
The White Sox are bad. Well, bad is a dramatic understatement considering just how bad they've been through the first 3-plus weeks of the season. The word "bad" is an understatement even; horrific, horrendous, terrible, atrocious, unimaginable, embarrassing…those are better choices.
Halfway through Wednesday's game in Minnesota against the Twins (the White Sox are losing, naturally), Chicago is now 3-20. 3-20!
That's a .130 winning percentage. It's the equivalent of a 21-141 season.
That's not a misprint. The Chicago White Sox, nearly 15 percent of the way through the season, are currently on pace to go 21-141. And even that undersells just how bad they've been.
Minneapolis - Chicago White Sox pitcher Michael Kopech walks to the dugout after the eighth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field on April 23. Photo: Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports
White Sox Stats Are A Raging Dumpster Fire
Entering Wednesday, the White Sox run differential was a jaw-dropping -79. Chicago's been outscored by 79 runs in just 23 games, meaning they've lost by an average of 3.43 runs per game. Extrapolated to 162 games, that would be a run differential of -556.
How bad is that? It'd be the worst in modern baseball history. The 1932 Red Sox were outscored by 345 runs in that season, meaning the 2024 White Sox are on pace to exceed that ignominious record by 211 runs. For context, the 2023 White Sox were outscored by "only" 200 runs, meaning the 2024 team could exceed the previous negative differential record by more than a 101 loss team.
As a team, Chicago's scored just 50 runs through 23 games, averaging less than two per game. The entire offense is hitting just .192, with a .266 slugging percentage and .290 slugging percentage. Madison Bumgarner, a pitcher, had a career batting line of .172/.232/.292. Quite literally, Madison Bumgarner had a better slugging percentage in his career than the 2024 Chicago White Sox roster through 23 games.
The .556 OPS is just a 63 OPS+, meaning the offense has been nearly 40 percent worse than a league average hitter. The MLB-leading Baltimore Orioles have an OPS+ of 129, more than double the White Sox total.
We're witnessing historic, unprecedented levels of bad baseball.
Not Getting Better In Chicago Anytime Soon
The worst part for White Sox fans is that there's no end in sight for the team's hopeless flailing.
The White Sox acquired some talent back from the San Diego Padres for Dylan Cease, but still rank 20th in MLB Pipeline's top farm systems. With Cease gone, the only possible trade chip is Luis Robert, who's hitting .214/.241/.500, easily the best line on the team.
Robert at least has a track record of success to point to, with a 5.8 win 2023, per Fangraphs. But if the White Sox trade him for prospects, how much worse will this season get?
It's hard to imagine; could the White Sox really lose 120+ games? 130?
Teams often go through cycles of rebuilding and success; but the White Sox's future seems so unbelievably bleak, it's hard to believe the team is even capable of rebuilding properly. As of late Wednesday evening, the White Sox trail the Twins 6-3, meaning if the Sox can lose by only three runs, its average loss would actually decline from -3.43.
Baby steps!