Over the weekend, the Chicago White Sox won their fourth series of the second half, taking two out of three games from the Los Angeles Angels.
Saturday's 1-0 win was the 42nd of the season for the White Sox, who have now surpassed their 2024 win total in the first week of August.
The White Sox still sit with an American League worst record of 42-70, but they are 10-5 since the All-Star break.
Nobody expects the South Siders to continue at their current second half pace. But even if the White Sox repeat their last 50 games to close out the season, 2025 will be a season of progress that few thought possible when the year began.
White Sox can easily avoid 100 losses
There are 50 regular season games remaining on the schedule between now and September 28. The White Sox only need to win 21 of those to avoid a third consecutive 100-loss season (21-31).
Since June 3, the White Sox are 24-28, good for a winning percentage of .462. If they are able to keep up that same pace the rest of the way, they'll win 23 of their final 50 games and finish with a record of 65-97.
On the surface, that's nothing to be proud of. However, a 24-game improvement from last season would be the largest year-over-year jump in win total by a White Sox team since 1990.
The 1990 White Sox (94-68) missed the playoffs, but won 25 more games than they did in 1989 (69-92).
That 1990 team got late contributions from budding young talent like rookie Frank Thomas (.330 batting average), rookie starting pitcher Alex Fernandez (3.80 ERA), 21-year-old outfielder Sammy Sosa (10 triples, 15 home runs. 32 stolen bases), and 22-year-old third baseman Robin Ventura (2.4 WAR).
Improvement seemed unlikely for the 2025 White Sox
It seemed impossible for Chicago to see a 25-game improvement in 2025 given all the talented players they lost last season.
The team's lone All-Star representative in 2024, Garrett Crochet, was traded to the Boston Red Sox during the offseason. Michael Kopech and Erick Fedde were both dealt at last year's trade deadline despite having more years of contract control.
The White Sox also moved Paul DeJong at the deadline. DeJong gave the White Sox 18 home runs from the shortstop position over 102 games, providing some power that was otherwise lacking throughout the organization.
Any pre-season notion of improvement for the White Sox would have seemingly pointed to players like Andrew Vaughn and Luis Robert Jr. having career years. In a world where Vaughn finally launches 30-35 homers and Robert Jr. returns to his 2023 form, one could imagine Chicago being a better team.
If I would have told you the White Sox would underachieving seasons from both Robert Jr. and Vaughn, who would also get traded in 2025, they would have seemed doomed for anther 120-loss campaign.
Young talent is propelling Chicago
Similar to that 1990 squad, the 2025 White Sox are surprising a lot of people thanks to the impact of young talent on the roster.
Lenyn Sosa, Edgar Quero, Kyle Teel, and Colson Montgomery all have an OPS+ above 100 (league average).
Montgomery has launched seven (7) home runs in his last 11 games, showing elite pop while playing respectable defense at shortstop.
Colson Montgomery is on an absolute HEATER!
— MLB (@MLB) August 3, 2025
This is his 7th homer since the All-Star break 😳 pic.twitter.com/91OkbRYjOy
Chase Meidroth has had an up-and-down rookie season, but he certainly passes the eye test when he's in the batter's box. Meidroth puts together mature, competitive at-bats that will lead to him having a long and successful big league career as a table setter.
Even a player like Brooks Baldwin is starting to put it all together. Baldwin dominated in Triple-A when he was sent down earlier this year, but in his last 15 MLB games, he's batting .341 with a .947 OPS.
On the pitching side of things, Shane Smith made the AL All-Star roster as a rookie Rule 5 draft pick. Davis Martin and Sean Burke have also been consistent and productive mid-rotation arms.
The young core is off to a really encouraging start, and the White Sox seem to have the right manager in place with Will Venable. If things continue in the direction they've been going, we could realistically see something close to a 25-game improvement in 2025, a massive first step for the rebuild in Chicago.