The White Sox still have the division in their hands, but the margin is getting thinner by the day.
Chicago has owned sole possession of first place in the AL Central since July 4, and the opening created by the rest of the division has been real. The Detroit Tigers, who many expected to roll through the AL Central in 2026, have stumbled badly.
The Minnesota Twins have dropped back. The Kansas City Royals have badly missed expectations.
With a few weeks left, only the Cleveland Guardians and White Sox look like legitimate division contenders.
That’s the good news. The problem is what’s happening in Chicago right now.
The White Sox enter this weekend with a 2.5-game lead and 16 games remaining, and they’ve been dragging through the final stretch instead of sprinting through it. There’s still enough time to keep control of the division, but not if the recent trend continues. Three changes stand out immediately if they want to avoid a collapse.
First, the White Sox need to stop leaning on bullpen games.
Chicago has been better when its starters can work at least five innings, and that’s not some mystery formula. It’s true for most teams, but it matters even more for this club.
The White Sox have had to squeeze their bullpen for too many outs, and while the relief corps has mostly held up, it now leads the league in innings. That kind of workload can catch up fast in September.
There are alternatives sitting in Triple-A, too. Drew Thorpe and David Sandlin have been pitching well, yet the White Sox keep choosing bullpen games instead of giving those young starters a chance to cover innings.
It can work in the short term. Over a final stretch like this, though, it risks leaving the bullpen worn down when the games matter most.
Chicago needs help, and it needs it in the form of starters who can take some of that burden off the relief group.
David Sandlin was at it again tonight! How about 11 strikeouts?! 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/XY0O6iO7iS
- Charlotte Knights (@KnightsBaseball) September 5, 2026
Second, the White Sox have to avoid a 5-11 finish.
That number may sound oddly specific, but it comes straight from a painful memory for White Sox fans who lived through 2012. Back then, Chicago held a three-game lead in the AL Central with 16 games left and only needed to play .500 baseball to stay in position.
Instead, the club stumbled to a 5-11 finish and missed the postseason. It took eight more years before the White Sox got back to October.
This year’s path is different, but the warning is the same. The remaining schedule includes Kansas City, Detroit, St.
Louis, and Colorado, and those are the kinds of teams a division leader should be handling. No one is asking for perfection.
Chicago doesn’t need to go 16-0. It just needs to keep playing .500 ball over the last couple of weeks and make Cleveland do something special to catch them.
Since the end of May, the White Sox have mostly been that kind of team anyway. Now they have to stay that way.
Finally, there’s no room left for routine off-days.
The White Sox rested Miguel Vargas for Wednesday’s game against the Pirates, and manager Will Venable said it was simply a planned day off to keep him fresh. Maybe that made sense earlier.
It doesn’t now. With 16 games left, every night matters, and Chicago can’t afford to be short-handed unless someone is actually hurt.
That doesn’t mean every player has to start every game. Kyle Teel is obviously not going to catch all 16.
But outside of the catcher spot, the White Sox need to be putting their best nine on the field as often as possible. They already had a day off two days earlier, and this is the part of the season where rest should be earned, not scheduled.
If Chicago can keep the lead and finish strong enough to land the No. 2 seed in the AL, it would get nearly a week off before the ALDS. That’s when the rest can come. For now, the White Sox have to keep pushing.
In Other News...
White Sox Pitching Decision Could Change Hagen Smith's Role
Luis Castillos recent stretch has left the White Sox with a little more sorting to do on the mound. After he failed to complete five innings in each of his last four starts, Chicago pushed back his next scheduled outing, and the club has not yet posted probable pitchers for the coming series. Will Venable said Hagen Smith is expected to get the ball against the Pittsburgh Pirates, a sign that the team is still balancing immediate rotation needs with the longer-term plan for a young arm.
For now, the White Sox are still working with Castillo on his mechanics and recovery while keeping other options in play. David Sandlin and Smith are both in the mix, and the way Chicago lines up the next few games could say a lot about how the team wants to handle its pitching depth from here. The rotation picture is still fluid, and Smiths role may end up being shaped as much by Castillos progress as by his own readiness. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Made A Miguel Vargas Choice Fans Wont Forget Soon
Will Venables decision to sit Miguel Vargas for what he called a routine day off quickly became one of those choices that travels well beyond a single afternoon. The White Sox were deep enough into the season that every lineup decision invited scrutiny, and leaving a star third baseman out of the starting nine only fueled the kind of injury speculation managers usually try to avoid. Venable pushed back on that idea, but the absence still stood out because Vargas has become one of the more important bats in the lineup.
Vargas did eventually pinch hit, but the moment never turned into the kind of late-game spark Chicago needed. He grounded into a double play in a critical spot, and the White Sox lost, which only sharpened the look-back at the original decision. With the season winding down, the bigger point feels pretty simple: if Chicago wants to squeeze out meaningful wins, it needs its best players on the field as often as possible, even when the margins feel small. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Face A Bullpen Decision That Could Reveal Their Plans
The White Sox have leaned on their bullpen all season, and Sean Newcomb has been one of the more important reasons why. With free agency approaching, his place in the mix is suddenly part of a bigger offseason question for a club that may want to keep the late innings from becoming a weak spot again.
Adrian Morejon is the kind of left-handed reliever who could fit what Chicago is looking for, after turning in steady work over the past three seasons and lining up for free agency himself. The White Sox can still try to bring back Newcomb, but the broader search for a dominant lefty should tell you plenty about how they plan to shape the roster once the offseason begins. [Read more 🡒]