The Chicago White Sox are doing something few teams would even dare to try in October, and so far it’s paying off in a big way.
They’re one win from the American League Championship Series, a stunning spot to be in just two years after losing 121 games. Even more eye-opening: the White Sox are unbeaten at 4-0 in this postseason, a run that looks a lot like the 2005 club. They’ve taken control of the Houston Astros and Cleveland Guardians, and while the offense that led the American League in runs has been dependable and timely, the real separator has been the pitching.
At the center of it all is a strategy that has worked far better than most would expect in the playoffs: openers and bullpen days.
Chicago entered the postseason with starters who had thrown the fewest innings in the majors, and that pattern has carried right into October. Chris Getz and Will Venable have leaned on relievers who can cover multiple innings and even start games, using that flexibility to keep opponents off balance and under control.
It’s not a move that usually defines postseason baseball, and it certainly isn’t a formula most managers trust for long. But the White Sox have made it look effective.
Hagen Smith has been especially sharp. Across two starts and 5.2 innings, he hasn’t allowed a run and has struck out five.
In one of those outings, he loaded the bases with walks, but Anthony Kay stepped in and escaped without giving up any damage.
Sean Burke, the White Sox ace in his first postseason, has also handled the assignment. He has appeared in two games, including one start.
Against the Astros in that first start, he allowed three solo home runs over four innings and nothing else. Against the Guardians, he worked 5.1 innings and gave up one run.
Burke had been used as a bulk reliever in five regular-season games, though he mostly started this year. Still, his first-inning numbers pushed the White Sox toward using an opener.
Kay’s outing in Game 2 wasn’t clean, but Chicago still found a way to win that game.
Then there’s Grant Taylor, who has kept building on his breakout regular season with a postseason that already stands out. In three games and 7.2 innings, he has yet to allow an earned run and has picked up two saves, including a four-inning save that jumped off the page. The back end of the bullpen was strong during the regular season, and the White Sox have paired that strength with starter usage that hasn’t always been conventional but has worked.
For now, there’s no reason for Chicago to change course. The bullpen is humming, Taylor is delivering, and the opener plan has done exactly what the White Sox needed it to do. If it keeps working, they’ll keep rolling with it.
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Anthony Rizzo Just Reignited A Cubs-Sox Fight White Sox Fans Hate
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The response from White Sox fans made the temperature clear almost immediately. Plenty of them rejected the pitch for civic unity and leaned into the familiar hostility toward the Cubs, turning Rizzos comments into one more reminder that Chicagos baseball divide is not going away anytime soon. For the White Sox, the timing only adds another layer, because any appeal for shared rooting interest tends to collide with a fan base that has spent years defining itself in opposition to the North Side. [Read more 🡒]