The White Sox have spent the first three months of the 2026 season doing something almost nobody saw coming: sitting on top of the AL Central. That’s the backdrop for a big weekend in Cleveland, where Chicago heads in as the slight division leader over the Guardians for a key series that opens on Star-Spangled Sunday at 2pm ET. All 15 MLB games will be available nationally on Peacock, NBC and NBCSN on July 5.
Hall of Famer CC Sabathia has been tracking the surge closely, and on the latest episode of his podcast, MLB According to CC, he called Chicago the “surprise of the summer.” That label fits.
The White Sox have gone from back-to-back-to-back seasons of 100-plus losses to a club trying to hang around in the American League race, and the contrast is hard to miss. Three years removed from a 41-121 finish in 2024 - the worst record in modern MLB history - this version of the team looks lively, loose and built around youth.
Sabathia said the group feels “a year or maybe two ahead of schedule.” That’s the kind of line that makes sense when you look at the way the offense has come together.
The White Sox have leaned heavily on the home run since June 17, leading the league with 18 homers as of July 1. At the center of it all has been 23-year-old left fielder Sam Antonacci, whose rookie season has featured an OPS above .800.
Miguel Vargas, Colston Montgomery and Munetaka Murakami have also delivered at the plate, and all four are 26 or younger.
That youth doesn’t stop there. Braden Montgomery, Jacob Gonzalez, Kyle Teel and Chase Meidroth are all part of the organization’s future as well, giving the White Sox a deeper wave of talent than anyone expected this early.
“When you got a young team like that and they’re all feeding off each other, you don’t know any better,” Sabathia said. “You’re just going out every single day trying to win a ball game, it’s fun to watch them come out with this much energy.”
Now comes the next test: holding onto that momentum against a Guardians club that sits just behind them. Chicago is chasing its first division title since 2021, and with only a handful of AL teams above .500 and the Central described as “treading water,” the door is open for the White Sox to keep this run rolling into the summer and maybe beyond.
In Other News...
White Sox Draft Talk Just Took A Stunning Turn At No 1
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Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey has now pushed his way into the mix after a strong 2026 season, which is forcing a tougher conversation about what Chicago should value most with the first pick. The White Sox have to decide whether to lean into safer positional paths or swing for the bigger ceiling, and the answer could say as much about the organizations draft philosophy as the player it ultimately selects. [Read more 🡒]
Jacob Gonzalez Is Forcing A Tough White Sox Decision
Jacob Gonzalez has spent the past week looking a lot more like the player the White Sox hoped they were getting, snapping out of a slump with a stretch of productive at-bats that included a walk-off single and multiple RBIs. For a rookie who needed some breathing room at the plate, it has been a meaningful burst, the kind that can quickly change the tone around a young hitter and make a front office pause before writing off his place in the picture.
The problem for Chicago is that timing matters as much as talent, and Gonzalez is arriving at a moment when the roster is still sorting itself out. His recent surge has only sharpened the question of what comes next, because a player who is hitting better can become more valuable in more than one way as the trade deadline approaches. For the White Sox, the next few weeks may say as much about Gonzalezs future as they do about whether he is simply staking his claim or turning himself into one of the more useful chips on the board. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Minor League Trade Hints At What This Front Office Values
The White Sox made a small but revealing move with Texas, swapping Triple-A reliever Ben Peoples for High-A catcher Ben Hartl in a one-for-one minor league trade. Neither player is on a 40-man roster or has reached the majors, but the deal still says something about the way Chicago is sorting through its system, especially with a front office that has been willing to turn over depth pieces in search of a better fit.
Peoples gives the Rangers a bullpen arm who has held his own in Triple-A, while Hartl comes back as a young catcher drafted in 2024 who has already shown some value behind the plate. He has struggled to hit for average in High-A, but his arm has stood out, and that kind of defensive profile tends to matter for a club trying to build organizational catching depth and find players who can stick at premium positions. [Read more 🡒]