Almost exactly one month ago, the White Sox closed out a road sweep against the Detroit Tigers and took their largest division lead of the season at 5.5 games. Despite a handful of frustrating losses earlier in the season that it felt like might matter in the margins, the White Sox were in full control of the division with a month and a half to play. Now, on September 14th, that cushion is completely gone, and the White Sox find themselves in a desperate spot. With 13 games to play, Chicago is clinging to a 0.5-game lead in the Central, and they head to Cleveland to open their biggest series in several years on Monday night.
If it’s felt like the White Sox have limped to the finish line in recent weeks, it’s because they have. Since August 30th, they’re 4-10. After reaching a season-high nine games over .500 following a 3-2 win over Minnesota on August 29th, they’re now just three-games over at 76-73. The starting pitching has struggled to get through five innings consistently and the bullpen has been taxed, but the biggest issue has been the offense. The White Sox lineup, which has led the American League in runs per game for a majority of the season, is averaging just 3.1 runs per game over the past 14 games. If you exclude the ten-run outburst against Minnesota on September 6th, it’s 2.6 runs in the other 13 games. That’s not going to win you too many ballgames.
Over this 4-10 stretch, the White Sox have had 17 plate appearances with the bases loaded, going 1-for-13 with four walks-- per our research department.
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) September 13, 2026
The White Sox simply haven't performed in the clutch over the past two weeks
It’s not that the White Sox are having poor at bats all game. They’re still walking a good amount and getting plenty of baserunners, they just simply haven’t been coming through with runners in scoring position. Since the start of the Houston series on August 31st, the White Sox are just 18-for-104 with runners in scoring position, good for a .173 batting average. Over a season-long stretch, that would be the worst mark in baseball by a significant margin. They’re getting baserunners, they’re simply not driving them in. That’s not an easy thing to find a solution for.
Will Venable has tried some different lineups over the past few games to try and put other guys in the big spots, and for the most part, it hasn’t worked. Big situations have continued to find the wrong guys at the wrong time. This could be a case of a young team simply running out of steam, or an inexperienced group starting to feel the pressure of performing on the biggest stage. Regardless, something has to change, and Will Venable and the coaching staff need to figure out a solution quickly.
Even if the White Sox fail to win the series against Cleveland and finish things in the AL Central, they have a chance to get into the playoffs as the final Wild Card. The Blue Jays and Rangers are the biggest competitors for the spot, and the White Sox own the tiebreaker over both. Every site has the White Sox with a greater than 50% chance of making the Postseason, but they’ll need to start stringing together some wins.
Maybe Randal Grichuk’s improbable home run Saturday night will be the spark the White Sox need moving forward. With 13 to go, the season is in front of them. And it starts Monday night against Cleveland.
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