The 2024 Chicago White Sox will undoubtedly go down as the worst team in MLB history, but is there hope?
The 2024 Chicago White Sox… what’s left to say that hasn’t already been said? There is no question that this season will absolutely go down as the worst season in MLB history, there is no other way to put it, and I don’t think we’ll ever see another team perform like this again.
Just as any team there were up’s but there were a greater number of downs, from game losing fielding errors, mental mistakes, abysmal pitching, slumps at the plate and countless injuries all played a part in the heart break from the south siders. I don’t know what the White Sox and Jerry Reinsdorf can do to turn this around for the 2025 campaign, but I do know this, there needs to be a large shift in the team dynamic and chemistry.
Sure you had a huge name in interim manager Grady Sizemore who took over for Pedro Grifol, and late season additions like Nick Senzel and then Miguel Vargas from the Dodgers in the 3 team trade that saw the loss of outfielder Tommy Pham, but it just was not enough to truly make any kind of difference.
Here are some key takeaways from this season:
The Good
There does seem to be hope on the pitching staff right off the bat, with Garrett Crochet reported to return for 2025 via contract extension talks with the front office. He finished 6-12 on the year with a 3.58 ERA, not stellar numbers but he could be the Ace moving into next season.
Ron Marinaccio was signed off of waivers from the Yankees after being designated for assignment, so he could certainly prove to be useful when closing out close games in the 2025 season behind Foster or Ellard.
We do know that Chad Kuhl was sent down to the minor leagues on assignment, but there is at least a little faith in the future of this franchise. The addition of rookie Fraser Ellard really stood out with some great potential for closing duties but it just was not enough to turn around an otherwise ailing pitching staff.
A few bright spots from the White Sox at the plate, veteran Andrew Benintendi and Andrew Vaughn. While neither put up huge numbers, they still had solid production. The problem mostly being consistency, which has plagued batters for the better part of this year.
As long as the White Sox can perform as well in 2025 as they did in the last 6 games of the 2024 season then I think there’s definitely something there. Lenyn Sosa also helped lift the White Sox over their slump in the last two series against the Angels and Tigers, as long as he stays healthy and plays up to his ability moving forward he could be a solid clean up batter in the lineup behind Vaughn or Robert Jr.
The Bad
I think we can all agree that this list will be much longer than the previous, but it still needs to be looked at. For starters the majority of the pitching was fairly abysmal. Mike Clevinger, after coming off of a solid 2023 season with a 9-9 record and sub 4.0 ERA, struggled in his first (and only) 4 starts in 2024 only pitching a combined 16 innings with a 6.75 ERA before going down with an elbow injury and requiring a season ending surgery in August.
The pitching this year was all around sub par, but for the most part the starters all had manageable numbers. Erick Fedde led the team in wins with 7 but was ultimately traded to St. Louis along with outfielder Tommy Pham. The White Sox next best pitcher was Crochet with a team leading 209 strikeouts and a 3.58 ERA this season, and even that was not enough to keep the team competitive in the league or in their division.
Inconsistency and injuries at the plate were overall the nail in the coffin… the proverbial straw on the camels back. Yoan Moncada was looking to be a driving force this season, but was again plagued with a season ending injury that would see him play just 12 games. Eloy Jimenez at least was able to play in 65 games, but again was plagued with injury.
There were several acquisitions made in the beginning of the season that showed a lot of promise such as veteran bats Kevin Pillar, Paul DeJong, Tommy Pham and Robbie Grossman. All of them were cut or traded and we just had to watch as they consistently produced for their new respective teams.
It’s hard to imagine that the White Sox front office didn’t have the foresight to try and build with what they had. All of the pieces were there, yet not a single one stayed on the roster past the all star break. It truly was disappointing to watch, and as we saw the entire team was not able to pull out any sort of consistency either on the mound or at the plate. The team showed promise early on, but for us the season was over before it ever really began.
Moving forward
Moving forward or moving on? That seems to be the real question from devoted and heartbroken fans. In a letter from Jerry Reinsdorf he said quote “Every loss this season — every blown save, every defensive miscue, every shutout, every sweep — hurt”. An apology is a great start, I believe most fans would agree, but now it’s time to see some results.
New management is on the horizon, and while it is not yet clear who the top contenders are, it’s my opinion that Grady Sizemore could return to lead the White Sox clubhouse. I don’t know if that will be enough, but with Sizemore at the helm it felt like there was a shift on the south side, and the sample size we received was not big enough to rule him out as a great candidate for manager.
A change at hitting and fielding coach could prove to be paramount for a monstrous comeback return in the 2025 season for the White Sox. We’re not sure who to blame for the pitching and hitting woes of this past season, but perhaps a coaching change could be expected coming into the 2025 season. There has been no official word about coaching changes, but it may be on the horizon and perhaps that’s just what is needed to get out of the rut and back on top.
When all is said and done, the 2024 Chicago White Sox certainly gave us a season to forget. I hope there is a light at the end of this tumultuous tunnel, and may that light shine on a bigger, better and more importantly a winning season. Could the White Sox make the post season in 2025? I think that is a bit of a stretch, but not unrealistic.
There is still much work to be done, many questions are still left unanswered, but come spring training I think we’re going to be pleasantly surprised. Mistakes were made this season, no question there, but learning and growing from them is going to show us the improvements and promises made from the White Sox owner in his letter. I’m not ready to move on, but I’ll always allow an opportunity to move forward, and it’s up to the team to show us what they can really do.
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