White Sox are 'fired up'; Cubs Series Tells All
If you read the 15 American League team previews I posted in late-March, you might notice it said the White Sox held a chance at avoiding last place in the AL Central.
Where the White Sox were in the previous two seasons – an MLB-record 121 losses in 2024 and 102 losses last season – dodging the division cellar seemed like a modest and reasonable way to see if the rebuild was progressing.
Based on how things are going for the White Sox in the past week, saying they could avoid the cellar might have been a slight underestimation as they are 7-1 in their past eight games after beating the Cubs on Sunday afternoon after sweeping the Royals last week.
How the White Sox showed improvement of late
The White Sox were on pace for another long summer where avoiding 90 losses might be tough following an excruciating 2-1, 10-inning loss to the Washington Nationals three weeks ago left them at 11-17 or a 64-98 pace.
When Edgar Quero's game-ending homer off Ryan Rollison landed 407 feet away on Sunday, it left the White Sox at 24-22 or on pace for 85 wins. In the current American League landscape, that means you are the fifth-best team and would play the Yankees at Yankee Stadium in the best-of-three wild-card series.
It is something many teams strive to avoid, as evidenced by the Yankees, whose inability to beat the Blue Jays last summer forced them into the nerve-wracking series and cost them homefield advantage in the Division Series.
For the White Sox, the homer lifted their playoff odds to a little over 28% and two games over .500 for the first time since they were 76-74 following a 4-2 loss to Cleveland on Sept. 22.
The bigger picture of that previous instance was that it was part of a season-ending stretch of 10 losses in 15 games that sent the White Sox to a .500 finish, followed by 324 losses in the next three seasons.
"I've never experienced anything like that. It was incredible," White Sox outfielder Tristan Peters told reporters. "Everybody's fired up. It was electric. We know we're a good team, and you can feel it in the clubhouse."
It is unclear where the White Sox are headed or if this improvement will keep going. It will be massively interesting to see the record on June 4, a day off before 12 straight games against the Phillies, Braves, Braves and Yankees,
The Murakami effect
When a player is made available from Japan, there is an air of mystery about them and in the case of Munetaka Murakami, many teams approached it with a degree of skepticism by staying away.
Not the White Sox, who signed a $34 million, two-year deal with the free agent in December on the same day Caleb Williams threw a dramatic overtime touchdown to D.J. Moore to give the Bears a 22-16 win over the Packers.
So far, the two-time Nippon Professional Baseball MVP and four-time All-Star is not disappointing in terms of fantasy owners enjoying his power. His 17 homers as of Sunday atop the AL race and on pace for 60 homers.
While it's unlikely he will hit 60 given how difficult reaching those numbers actually are, his power is electrifying and gives the White Sox a chance at employing the AL home run champion for the first time since Dick Allen hit 32 to beat Reggie Jackson in the 1974 home run race.
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White Sox other big moves pay off
The last time the White Sox were two games over .500 might seem like a decade ago, since no one who appeared in that game is on the team.
Since then, the veterans signed elsewhere, and the White Sox made some trades that are starting to work while waiting for Colson Montgomery to develop.
For example, Quero joined the team when he was acquired from the Angels on July 26, 2023, for Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez, who were key figures when the team traded Adam Eaton to the Nationals.
The heavy lifting in terms of trades continued at the 2024 deadline when the White Sox received Miguel Vargas from the Dodgers as part of a three-team deal.
Vargas remains a work in progress like many young players but the 26-year-old boasts 11 homers and an .880 OPS after hitting 16 in 138 games last season when his OPS was .717.
Another deal was sending Garrett Crochet to the Red Sox for four players, including Chase Meidroth and Kyle Teel. While Teel is injured, his first 78 games last season were promising, and Meidroth is becoming a dependable second baseman.
Rebuilds take time and the exact moment it clicks often is mysterious. In the past week, the White Sox provided notice about possibly turning a corner and it is a nice departure from three years of losing ugly.
Related: White Sox made moves to avoid AL basement in 2026
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This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 11:25 AM.