The Chicago White Sox are not going to win much this year, but it still does not mean this is a lost season. With the front office aggressively calling up young players with the potential to be core pieces on the next competitive club, this season is providing pivotal big-league development, at-bats, and innings to those youngsters.
Even if the win-loss record will be ugly, it's important to see the White Sox clear some big picture developmental hurdles this season.
I suggested before the season that we should measure rookie manager Will Venable based on six standards. In a way, if Venable is meeting those standards, it means the team is showing promise of better days ahead. So far, he has been checking off the boxes on the list.
The clubhouse culture is reportedly very good. The team looks prepared on a daily basis. Young players such as Miguel Vargas have gotten better. Venable seems to be working with GM Chris Getz to implement a style of baseball that could someday win ballgames.
The team has been in more games this season than in 2024 in part because of a hitting philosophy of getting runners on base to create scoring chances, playing good defense, and deploying the best bullpen arms to get outs in high-leverage situations. Some of the bullpen decisions are still a work in progress, but that's mostly because there are not many high-leverage arms on the roster.
That is not to say Venable is a perfect manager. He has made his share of mistakes and is still a work in progress, just like this entire organization. But at least there are signs that these dark days could be ending by the target year of 2027.
For the rest of 2025, there are three more hurdles for the White Sox to clear to show the fanbase progress is being made towards building a winner.
1. Win more on the road
While this year's club is winning at a better pace than the historically awful 2024 club, this team is still losing on the road at an awful rate.
The White Sox are a shocking 7-31 away from Rate Field this season.
A big reason for that is the offense producing two fewer runs per game as the visitors. Scoring runs has been tough for the Sox all season, they are 27th in baseball in that department, but at least the lineup has been respectable when it gets some home cooking.
Putting up more offense away from home, with the pitching continuing to give the team a shot to win, can help the Sox check this box.
2. Pull out more close games
The White Sox were in just 42 one-run games last season, going 13-29. The White Sox are already more than halfway to that total in 2025.
Chase Meidroth, Edgar Quero, and Shane Smith all making an impact as rookies has allowed the White Sox to be much more competitive. However, relying on a young core, along with a replacement-level veteran supporting cast, and a shaky bullpen means means this team hasn't learned how to win the close ones yet.
The White Sox are 4-19 in one run games this season. They are tied for the most one-run losses.
It would be great to see the young hitters start coming up with some more timely hits, and young bullpen arms like Grant Taylor help slam the door on opponents. If the White Sox are going to turn the corner as an organization, they'll eventually need to learn how to finish games.
3. Complete the halfway comebacks
Another sign of progress from the White Sox this season is that Venable's team does not quit. They always have fight in them, but their late rallies rarely end in victory.
This year's White Sox have just two walk-off victories, although one more will tie them for the 2024 team already. Seven comeback victories this season is already four more than last year, too.
The White Sox have been on a run recently of putting together late rallies only to fall short. It was nice to see the White Sox reduce a 7-2 deficit against the Royals last Sunday by scoring three ninth-inning runs. Chicago had a chance for a walk-off win, but Tim Elko did not come through in the clutch. A couple of late rallies also fell short on Thursday against Houston and on Friday against Texas.
The White Sox had the bases loaded last Friday in the ninth inning, but come away with nothing.
One way the White Sox can check this box is to just improve with runners in scoring position. The White Sox have a bottom five batting average in baseball with runners in scoring position. Moving out of the bottom 10 in ninth inning runs would also help.