Tag / White Sox

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Playoffs Part The First

With about seven weeks remaining in the 2026 season, it appears that both Chicago teams may be heading to the postseason for the first time since 2008.  The Cubs, the team with a more secure hold on making the playoffs despite currently sitting in second place, got the ticketing process started.

Sitting five and a half games behind the Brewers for the NL Central crown but holding a six-game lead for the first Wild Card slot, the Cubs sent out post-season invoices to their season ticket holders last week for the second straight year.  Thanks to a randomly selected combination assignment, I would end up with tickets to two games in each potential round.  I would maintain my normal seats through the NLCS but would end up relocated to the right field side should the team advance to the World Series.

Barring a complete collapse over the next seven weeks, the Cubs seem to be a lock to make the postseason.  Getting out of that Wild Card round, where they would face the Phillies if the season ended today, might be more difficult.

On the other side of town, the White Sox currently sit atop the AL Central, holding a three and a half game lead over the Tigers, but have yet to release any postseason ticketing plans.

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Hanging Up The Spikes

On Monday, on a call to celebrate the return of the Field of Dreams game, Tim Anderson announced his official retirement from baseball.  Anderson, who was arguably the face of the White Sox franchise earlier this decade, saw his fortunes fall due to injuries and off-the-field issues starting in the second half of 2022.  He last played for the Angels in 2025.

Drafted by the White Sox in the first round in 2013, Tim Anderson made his major league debut on June 10, 2016, going 2-3 in a victory against the Royals at US Cellular Field.  Replacing veteran Jimmy Rollins, who would be released five days later, Anderson played 99 games, hitting .283 with nine home runs, and finished seventh in Rookie of the Year balloting.  Showing that he was still a work in progress, Anderson slashed .257/.276/.402 in 2017, with a 2.1% walk rate, the lowest in the major leagues.  Defensively, he led the major leagues in errors, with 28, as well as fielding errors (16) and throwing errors (12).  He showed slight improvements in 2018, with slight improvements in his OBP and slugging percentage, while reducing his overall errors.

2019 was Anderson’s coming out party.  He led the major leagues with a .335 average while raising his OPS to .865, setting career highs with 167 hits, 32 doubles, and 81 runs.  He still had some issues on defense, leading all major league players with 26 errors, leading to the lowest fielding percentage amongst all shortstops.  His hot bat continued into the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, notching a .322 average and an .886 OPS.  He won his first Silver Slugger award while leading the White Sox to their first post-season appearance since 2008.  He thrived in the Wild Card series against the A’s, going 9-14 in the three-game series.

Anderson continued to prove that he his offensive improvement wasn’t a fluke when baseball returned full time in 2021.  He was named to his first All Star team and, on the game’s biggest stage, he hit a walk-off home run against the Yankees in the inaugural Field of Dreams game in the cornfields of Iowa.  Overall, he hit .309 and posted an .807 OPS while hitting 17 home runs and driving in 61 RBIs.  Continuing where he left off the previous October, Anderson hit .368 in the ALDS against the Astros.

Things started to sour for Anderson in 2022, both on the field and off.  Injuries limited him to just 79 games and left him with his lowest OPS since 2018.  Off the field, an Instagram post by a woman who was not Anderson’s wife insinuated they were in a relationship, and he was the father of her unborn child.  Looking for a fresh start, Anderson played with Team USA in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, earning praise from manager Mark DeRosa and outfielder Mike Trout.  Unfortunately, those good vibes did not spill over to the 2023 season.  After an early injury, Anderson struggled the entire year, his OPS dropped to a career-low .582 and he managed just a single home run.

He signed with the Marlins for 2024. but appeared in just 65 games before being released in July.  Returning the following year with the Angels, he made it into just 31 games before his May 29th release.

The White Sox will be celebrating Anderson’s career next month, bringing back the Southside uniform set for one night.

Anderson’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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Fitbit 12 – Week 28

Another great week, going over goal two days as my step challenge at work came to an end.  The week got off to a great start on Sunday, with a trip to Rate Field for Munetaka Murakami bobblehead day leading to 7300 steps.  The good times continued on Monday, wrapping up the step challenge with 7900 steps.  Things slowed down a bit on Tuesday, falling down to 6200 steps.  I rebounded on Wednesday, with a White Sox/Yankees tilt leading to 9100 steps.  A busy Thursday left me with 6000 steps, with Friday dropping by a mere 12 steps to also score 6000.  A rainy Saturday ended the week with 5200 steps.

Total steps: 47,939

Daily average: 6848.4

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Bolstering The Staffs

Both the Cubs and the White Sox made moves yesterday to bolster their pitching staffs heading into the stretch run.  The Cubs struck first, acquiring starter Kevin Gausman from the Blue Jays for Brett Bateman and Ty Southisene.  Gausman, 35, is 5-10 with a 4.38 ERA and 127 strikeouts in 23 starts for the Blue Jays this season coming off a long post-season in 2025 and is in the final year of his deal.  Bateman, 24, is a left-handed hitting outfielder was the eighth-round pick for the Cubs in 2023 and is currently ranked as the organization’s No. 21 prospect according to MLB.com.  Southisene, 21, is an infielder selected in the fourth round of the 2024 draft and the organization’s 13th top-ranked prospect.

On the South Side, a day after acquiring Luis Castillo for the rotation, the White Sox acquired reliever Huascar Brazobán from the Mets for Gabe Davis and Zach Franklin.  Brazobán, a late bloomer at 36, is having a career-year, posting a 2.56 ERA over 46 games and 52⅔ innings.  He has three years of team control remaining and won’t become eligible for free agency until he’s 39.  Davis, a 6’9″ righty starter, has struggled after being promoted to Birmingham earlier this year.  The 22-year-old was selected in the fifth round of the 2025 draft.  Franklin turns 28 shortly before he becomes eligible for the Rule 5 draft this December.

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Bolstering The Rotation

After a month of July where only two White Sox starters managed to complete six full innings, Chris Getz pulled off a move that will hopefully bolster the rotation while improving the bullpen, both through less work and by subtraction.  The White Sox acquired right-handed starter Luis Castillo from the Mariners in exchange for reliever Seranthony Domínguez, catching prospect Boston Smith, and outfielder Nolan Jones.  Castillo, 33, is signed through 2027 for $22.75 million with a vesting option for $25 million in 2028.  A three-time All-Star, Castillo has struggled this year, with a career-worst 5.06 ERA.

Dominguez, signed this off-season, has struggled, but has been better as of late in low leverage situations.  Smith, 23, was acquired from the Nationals this spring and has slashed a combined .291/.448/.589 with 22 home runs across three minor league levels this season.  Jones, 28, was acquired from the Guardians in June and is basically organization filler at this point.

With the acquisition, Castillo will move into the rotation with Erick Fedde moving to the bullpen.  Hopefully the two will take pressure off of the rest of the bullpen innings-wise and Castillo’s post-season experience will benefit the entire team come October.

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Three Homers

In last night’s victory over the Rays, the White Sox offense saw home runs from Munetaka Murakami, Colson Montgomery, and Miguel Vargas for the fifth time this season, trying the major league record.  The record was first set in 1953 by the then-Brooklyn Dodgers, with contributions from Carl Furillo, Gil Hodges, and Duke Snider and has now been tied an additional nine times.  The current White Sox are the second set of South Siders to have a piece of the record, following the 2004 trio of Joe Crede, Paul Konerko, and Jose Valentin.

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Fitbit 12 – Week 26

A tremendous week, notching my highest total since going to Hawaii in 2022 and scoring my first 10,000 step day in nearly 2 years as we reach the halfway point of Year 12.  The week got off to a great start with that 10,000-step day, my first in the state of Illinois since 2021, finishing with 10,100 after utilizing street parking to watch the White Sox battle the A’s.  A neighborhood walk on Monday put me over goal for the second straight day, finishing 13 steps away from 7800.  The start of a steps challenge at work on Tuesday fell 14 steps shy of 7000.  Wednesday dropped off a bit, falling to 6000 steps.  A slight improvement on Thursday went up by exactly 100 steps.  Friday was the low point of the week, coming in with 5400 steps.  A longer walk while charging the car on Saturday morning led to my third day over goal for the week, finishing just over 7500 steps.

Total steps: 50,080

Daily average: 7154.3

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Looking Ahead To 2027

Returning to their traditional day after the All-Star Game release, Major League Baseball released their tentative 2027 earlier this week, one which hopefully will not be impacted by a prolonged work stoppage.  For the fifth year in a row, MLB is keeping with a balanced schedule, playing 52 games against division opponents, 64 games against non-division opponents in the same league, and 46 interleague games, with series against every team in the opposite league.  With both Chicago teams heading into the second half in line for a postseason appearance for the first time since 2008 and the All-Star Game coming to Wrigley Field in July, the 2027 season looks like it could be an interesting one on both sides of town.  So, for one day, at least, let’s turn our attention to next summer for both teams.

The White Sox open their season on the road in the Midwest on March 25, scheduled to be the earliest North American start in league history, facing the Tigers followed by a series against the Royals.  They open up their home schedule against the Brewers on April 1.

Aside from the Brewers, the interleague schedule sees the White Sox staying home to face the Marlins, Phillies, Cardinals, Diamondbacks, and Padres, while travelling to see the Pirates, Reds, Dodgers, Braves, Mets, Rockies, and Nationals.  The rivalry with their north side foes continues with a three-game weekend series at Wrigley Field coming out of the All-Star break in mid-July followed by three games at Rate Field the first weekend of August.

The White Sox wrap up the 2027 season in September at home, with a final series against the Tigers before ending the year with three against the Padres.

On the north side, the Cubs kick off their season at home against the Guardians and Cardinals before heading out on the road in early April.  Aside from the Guardians, the Cubs will host the Mariners, Orioles, Red Sox, and Royals while travelling to battle the Angels, Twins, A’s, Yankees, Blue Jays, and Tigers.

The Cubs open September with eleven straight against their NL Central rivals, but finish the month, and the season, on the road to face the Phillies and the Mets.

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2026 All Star Break Pitching Leaders

Now that the All-Star Game is behind us and we await tomorrow’s start of the second half of the season, with both the White Sox and the Cubs in contention for the post-season, let’s take a look at the first half leaders on the defensive side of the ball for the 24 games I’ve attended so far this season, beginning with everyone’s favorite pitching stat:

Wins

Name Total
Edward Cabrera 2
Anthony Kay 2
Davis Martin 2
18 tied with 1

Losses

Name Total
Sean Burke 2
22 tied with 1

ERA (> 6 IP)

Name Total
Kyle Harrison 0.00
Shota Imanaga  0.00
Grant Taylor 0.00
Holby Milner 0.00
Sean Newcomb 0.00

Strikeouts

Name Total
Sean Burke 22
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2026 All Star Break Standings

As we reach the metaphorical, if not quite exact, midpoint of the 2026 baseball season, the Midsummer Classic lands in Philadelphia for the fifth time in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  If you would have told me back in April that not only would the White Sox head into the break with a winning record, but they would be tied for first place in the AL Central and that both Chicago teams are in position for a post-season appearance for the first time since 2008, I would have called you a crazy person.  Yet here we are.

As the stars of the baseball world gather at Citizens Bank Park for tonight’s showdown, it’s time to take a look at the team records for the 24 games, featuring 50% of the teams in the league, that I attended in the first half of the baseball season.

2026 Team Records

Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
Washington Nationals 2 0 1.000
Milwaukee Brewers 2 0 1.000
Los Angeles Dodgers 1 0 1.000
Chicago White Sox 10 6 0.625
Chicago Cubs 6 5 0.545
Seattle Mariners 1 1 0.500
Kansas City Royals 1 1 0.500
Sacramento Athletics 1 2 0.333
San Diego Padres 0 1 0.000
New York Mets 0 1 0.000
Minnesota Twins 0 1 0.000
Los Angeles Angels 0 1 0.000
Detroit Tigers 0 1 0.000
Arizona Diamondbacks 0 1 0.000
Toronto Blue Jays 0 3 0.000