The White Sox have a huge opportunity in front of them. The Detroit Tigers, who many thought would run the table in the AL Central in 2026, have struggled mightily. The Minnesota Twins have fallen off. The Kansas City Royals have vastly underperformed expectations. With just a few weeks remaining of the season, only the Cleveland Guardians and White Sox seem to have a chance of taking home the division crown.
The White Sox have held sole possession of first place in the central since July 4th. With the Guardians sitting at just 74-73 this season, it’s been a tremendous opportunity for the White Sox to take advantage of. Unfortunately, they’ve been limping to the finish line. They enter this weekend’s action with a lead of just 2.5 games with 16 to play. There’s still time to salvage the division, but they simply can’t keep playing the way they have been over the past few weeks. Here are some things that need to change to avoid a collapse of epic proportions.
Stop Choosing Bullpen Games
The numbers speak for themselves. The White Sox simply win more games when their starting pitchers are able to go five innings. This is the case with just about every team, but it’s even moreso for Chicago. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been a common occurrence for the team, and they’ve needed to heavily rely on their bullpen to provide quality innings. For the most part, the bullpen has done its job, but they lead the league in innings and could be tiring down the stretch. The White Sox have decent options like Drew Thorpe and David Sandlin pitching well in Triple-A, but for whatever reason, continue to choose bullpen games instead of turning to them. It’s a strategy that can work in the short term, but it’s going to lead to an even more taxed bullpen down the stretch. The White Sox need to give their bullpen a rest and turn to some young starters to eat necessary innings.
David Sandlin was at it again tonight! How about 11 strikeouts?! 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/XY0O6iO7iS
— Charlotte Knights (@KnightsBaseball) September 5, 2026
Don’t Go 5-11
This one may seem obvious and oddly specific, but White Sox fans who are old enough to remember the 2012 season know what I’m talking about. The White Sox found themselves in a very similar situation: protecting a three-game AL Central lead with just 16 games left to play. All they needed to do was play .500 baseball over the season’s final couple weeks and they would’ve been in good shape. Instead, they limped to a 5-11 finish and came up short of the Postseason. They wouldn’t reach the playoffs for another eight years following that collapse. The White Sox remaining schedule contains games against Kansas City, Detroit, St Louis, and Colorado. Those are teams that a playoff team should be beating on a regular basis. I’m not asking for them to go 16-0, but the White Sox need to go .500 down the stretch and force Cleveland to play great baseball. They’ve been mostly a .500 team since the end of May, so all they need to do is continue that trend.
No More Routine Off-Days
The White Sox controversially rested star third baseman Miguel Vargas for Wednesday’s game against the Pirates. While some speculated that he could be hurt, White Sox manager Will Venable explained that it was just a routine day off to keep him fresh. There are 16 games left of the season. This is crunch time. These routine off-days cannot happen anymore. Every game for the rest of the season is of utmost importance, and the White Sox can’t afford to field less than their best, especially when the team just had a day off two days earlier. From now until the rest of the season, I’d like to see the White Sox field their best nine players barring injury. Obviously, the catcher position is an exception, and Kyle Teel will not be playing all 16 games, but there’s no reason to sit other guys unless they’re hurting. If the White Sox can hold serve and earn the number two seed in the AL, they’ll get nearly a week off before the start of the ALDS, and it’ll be some well-earned rest. Until then, they’ve got work to do.
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