The 2024 season has been nothing short of a nightmare for the Chicago White Sox, teetering on the edge of infamy. With just one week left, the White Sox are perilously close to ending the year with the worst record in modern baseball history.
At a dismal 36-120, the White Sox have already matched the 1962 New York Mets' notorious record of 120 losses. With six games left to play, the possibility of setting a new low is alarmingly real.
A Struggling Offense
Offensively, the White Sox have floundered all season. They are hitting .220/.278/.339 as a team, significantly lagging behind the league-average slash line of .244/.312/.400. With an OPS+ of just 76, they stand 24% below the league average in getting on base and hitting for power.
The lack of power is glaring. Ranking dead last in home runs, the team has only sent 127 balls over the fence this season. Not a single player has reached the 20-home run mark, underscoring the ineffectiveness of the lineup.
Scoring runs has been an ordeal. Averaging just 3.07 runs per game, the White Sox hold the lowest average in the league. The Tampa Bay Rays, next to last in runs per game, still manage 3.78. The offensive struggles are starkly highlighted by their -320 run differential, being outscored 799-479.
Andrew Vaughn, despite leading the team with 67 RBIs and 54 runs, ranks a dismal 103rd out of 130 qualifying players in OPS for the batting title. It's a statistic that encapsulates the team's season-long woes.
Defensive Nightmares
Defensively, the White Sox have been the worst in the league, recording -83 total zone runs. Comparatively, the Miami Marlins, the second-worst team defensively, have -53 total zone runs. The top defenders, the Milwaukee Brewers and Seattle Mariners, boast 46 total zone runs each, emphasizing the chasm between the White Sox and the league's best.
Pitching Woes
The pitching staff has not fared any better. Erick Fedde, the team's leader in WAR, hasn't pitched since July 27. The collective performance in FanGraphs' version of WAR sits at a dismal -6.8, making them the only team in the league with a negative figure. The Colorado Rockies, holding the next lowest WAR, still manage a positive 4.1.
On the road, the White Sox have managed a 16-62 record, the worst in the league. Home-field advantage, if it could be called that, hasn’t been much better with a 20-58 record, also the worst in the league.
A Season Marked by Slumps
The 2024 season has been punctuated by several lengthy slumps. The team has suffered losing streaks of 21, 14, and 12 games each, not including additional streaks of seven and six games, along with two stints of five-game losses, one of which remains active.
The history books will note that this year, the White Sox have endured a record-breaking season of losses both at home and on the road. Before 2024, they had never lost more than 55 games away or 53 games at home in a single season.
Since the All-Star break, the White Sox have gone 9-49. No team has ever won fewer than 15 games in a full second half, with the A's of 1915 and 1943 holding that previous record at 15-61.
Dim Highlights
Even in a dark season, there were few dim highlights. The White Sox’s best months were May and June, each with a 9-19 record. July, however, defined the nadir, with an abysmal 3-22 record. They managed to secure winning records against only five teams: the Braves (2-1), Rockies (2-1), Cardinals (2-1), Rays (4-2), and Nationals (2-1).
But when it came to facing their own AL Central competitors, the stats were brutal. The White Sox are 12-41 against the rest of the division, reflecting their inability to compete in even their own backyard.
Fans and analysts will remember the 2024 season as the worst in Major League Baseball history for the Chicago White Sox, a year where every aspect of the game seemed to go awry. The shadow of a historical low looms large as the final week approaches, leaving the team and its supporters to hope for a merciful end to a disastrous campaign.