The Crosstown Classic is here. The Chicago White Sox will head to Wrigley Field this weekend to take on the rival Chicago Cubs for a three-game set.
The Sox are riding some momentum into the weekend. The South Siders are coming off two consecutive series victories against the Miami Marlins and Cincinnati Reds, putting them at a respectable 7-7 in the month of May.
Make no mistake about it - the first place Cubs are a tough team to play, especially at Wrigley Field. If the Sox want to keep their positive vibes going and beat the Cubs in a series for the first time since 2022, here’s what they’ll need to do.
1. Hit home runs
It sounds simple enough, but hitting home runs has been easier said than done for the White Sox in 2025. They are currently 28th and baseball with just 32 homers as a team.
The Sox have some really talented starting pitchers in the rotation that can keep them in ball games, but they can really struggle to score runs at times. Hitting the ball out of the ballpark and generating some instant offense would go a long way.
In the month of May, the White Sox are 6-1 when they hit at at least one home run. They are 1-6 when they do not. It’s really that simple.
2. Get to the bullpen
The Chicago Cubs entered Thursday with a 4.64 bullpen ERA. That’s 22nd in baseball and even worse than the White Sox.
The Cubs have a loaded starting lineup, but with Shota Imanaga and Justin Steele on the Injured List, their pitching staff has had some trouble getting deep into games. That's the Cubs' Achilles heel right now.
The White Sox need to take advantage of that, work some good at-bats, and force Cubs manager Craig Counsell to deploy his best bullpen arms early and often.
It will be Cade Horton, Matthew Boyd, and Colin Rea starting for the Cubs this weekend.
The Sox are going with Shane Smith, Sean Burke, and Jonathan Cannon.
3. Deploy the best lineup possible
This should honestly go without saying, but when it comes to the White Sox, you never know when they’re going to punt a game away by throwing together an unserious starting lineup.
Despite having an off day on Monday, the White Sox had Edgar Quero, Chase Meidroth, and Tim Elko all on the bench for the series finale against the Reds.
Without many of their spark plug players in the lineup and an uninspiring Bryse Wilson on the mound, the Sox lost Thursday’s game before it even started. Nobody should be shocked that Joshua Palacios, Jacob Amaya, and Josh Rojas failed to have competitive at-bats.
The White Sox had 19 hits combined on Tuesday and Wednesday in Cincinnati and only 4 hits in Thursday’s feeble defeat.
In order to beat the Cubs, we are going to need to see the best the White Sox have to offer. No days off. All hands on deck.