Friday’s series opener against the last-place New York Mets brings more than just another game to Rate Field.
For the White Sox, it begins a stretch that should be far more manageable the rest of the way. With the fourth-easiest remaining schedule over their final 35 games, the Sox have a clear path in front of them. Whether they win the AL Central is entirely in their hands.
But the bigger draw for a lot of fans is Luis Robert Jr. coming back to Rate Field for the first time since the offseason trade that closed the book on his six seasons on the South Side. When he steps into the box for his first at-bat, the reaction will be one to watch, and there should be plenty of people in the park wearing his name or his face.
By the end of the 2025 campaign, it was obvious Robert wasn’t going to fetch anything close to the kind of return he might have commanded after his All-Star season in 2023. Still, with the final season of his seven-year, $70 million deal looming, the Sox wanted the contract off the books and were willing to move him however they could.
The main piece they got back in the deal was Luisangel Acuna, a player whose expectations were never especially high. That fits the profile of the 2026 Sox, too.
Acuna has mostly matched that modest billing, though he has carved out a role as a useful utility player on a surprise playoff team. Chicago probably couldn’t have asked for much more.
Robert, meanwhile, has had the worst season of his career in his first year with the Mets. He missed almost three months because of a lumbar spine disc herniation, but since returning he has played nearly every game. Even so, he is headed toward career lows across the board, and that has only increased the scrutiny around him.
The Mets have made the situation even stranger. After spending big in a way only the Los Angeles Dodgers usually attempt these days, they have spent most of the season in last place in the NL East and became unexpected sellers at the trade deadline.
So this series puts two teams on very different tracks from the ones plenty of people expected before Opening Day. At the center of it is Robert, once part of a Sox core that fell far short of championship hopes and now living through another rough chapter with a new club.
Baseball sure can be cruel to certain players, can't it?
In Other News...
White Sox Fans Have A New Rate Field Worry In Bridgeport
A new development near Rate Field is adding another layer of uncertainty for White Sox fans in Bridgeport. Amtrak plans to build a 24/7 industrial maintenance facility in the neighborhood, with work expected to affect nearby residents and some of the parking lots surrounding the ballpark beginning in 2027. The project has already received a federal categorical exclusion, meaning it can move ahead without a full environmental assessment, which only sharpened attention at a recent public meeting.
For a fan base already living with questions about the long-term future of the ballpark area, the location and timing of the project have become part of a broader conversation about what comes next in Bridgeport. Some residents raised concerns about the impact on the neighborhood and linked the plan to possible future White Sox stadium development and ownership changes involving Justin Ishbia, though those ownership details remain speculative for now. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Prospect Roch Cholowsky Suddenly Faces A Health Question
Roch Cholowsky has been on the sidelines since Saturday after tweaking his wrist during his last plate appearance, and the White Sox prospect has now missed four straight games. For now, the club has kept him off the injured list, which suggests there is still some optimism that this is more of a short-term setback than a longer concern.
Cholowskys absence has left a small but noticeable hole in the recent minor league lineup flow, especially with the organization still sorting out who is available and who is not on a day-to-day basis. The fact that he has not been shut down entirely is the key detail here, and it leaves the next update on his wrist as the one White Sox followers will be watching most closely. [Read more 🡒]
Jonathan Cannons White Sox Future Looks Bleaker Than Fans Expected
Jonathan Cannons first two seasons with the White Sox have followed a far bumpier path than the club probably envisioned when he reached the majors in 2024. He got a real look right away, making 21 starts and covering 124.1 innings, but the progress did not carry over into 2025, when his performance slipped and his role began to shrink as the season went along.
By August, Cannon was back in Triple-A, and his big league chances have been scarce since then, with only a few appearances in Chicago and most of them coming out of the bullpen. He is still on the roster-building radar, but heading into 2026, his path back to a rotation spot looks far less straightforward than fans might have expected after his debut. [Read more 🡒]