The White Sox are one win away from turning a wild season into a guaranteed playoff trip.
Chicago opened its series against the Royals on Tuesday night by unloading four homers in a 14-11 win, a result that pushed the club closer to October even as the bullpen let Kansas City back into the game. The other piece of the puzzle also broke Chicago’s way: the Mets beat the Texas Rangers, trimming the White Sox’s magic number to two. That means the White Sox can clinch a postseason berth as early as Wednesday night, and it would be their first since 2021.
At 81-76, the White Sox have already put themselves in rare company. Their 81 victories are the most ever for a team that followed three straight 100-loss seasons.
And if they finish the job and reach the postseason, they would become the first club in MLB history to make it after back-to-back 100-loss seasons, much less three in a row. There’s even a bigger slice of history available: if Chicago erases the one-game gap and wins the division, it would be the first team ever to lose 100 games and then win its division the next season.
The path to a clinch is simple enough. Texas fell to 78-79 on Tuesday, which means the Rangers can finish no better than 83-79.
Chicago needs only two more wins to get to 83 and lock in a spot, since it owns the tiebreaker over Texas. The AL West race matters here too, because Houston is tied with Texas right now.
If the Rangers win the division at 83-79, then Houston would have to finish 82-80 or worse, and 83 wins would still be enough for the White Sox in a Wild Card scenario.
Chicago still has bigger goals in sight. With five games left, the AL Central is very much up for grabs, and the White Sox need to finish one game ahead of the Guardians to likely secure the No. 2 seed in the American League and the automatic bye to the ALDS. So while a Wild Card berth would be a safety net, the division title remains in play, and the White Sox have every reason to keep pushing.
If they do wind up in the Wild Card series, the Rangers would be the preferred path. The source material points out that Texas looks like the better matchup for Chicago, and the White Sox have already shown they can win a series in Texas.
Nothing is finished yet, but the momentum is obvious. A team that has spent the year rewriting its own expectations is now staring at a postseason berth, with Wednesday night in Kansas City carrying the weight of history.
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Sheets is on the injured list but expected back for the postseason, while Hays has carved out a part-time role after being designated for assignment by the White Sox. Harris has become an everyday piece for San Diego after a series of transactions that also involved the White Sox and Astros, giving the Padres another useful bat at just the right time. For Chicago, it is the kind of reminder that roster churn does not always end when a player leaves town, especially when those players suddenly become part of a contenders most important stretch. [Read more 🡒]
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White Sox Suddenly Have A Breakout Problem Fans Will Love
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The good problem is that Chicago may not have an easy path to fitting both players into the same long-term picture. Their skills overlap in some ways, the roster already has other young options in the pipeline, and the White Sox could eventually have to sort out whether either player settles into a platoon, a utility role or becomes part of a bigger trade discussion. [Read more 🡒]