The Chicago White Sox have pulled off something no team in baseball history had ever done before.
With a 9-1 win over the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Thursday, Chicago locked up a playoff berth and completed a stunning climb out of the wreckage of three straight 100-loss seasons. That includes a modern-era record 121 losses in 2024, followed by a 60-102 finish last year.
The turnaround has been built from the ground up under general manager Chris Getz, with the roster reshaped around a wave of homegrown pieces. Former top prospects Braden Montgomery, Colson Montgomery and Miguel Vargas have all been central to the rise, along with breakout All-Star rookie Tristan Peters and right-hander Davis Martin. The White Sox also got a major lift from outside the organization, most notably star free-agent addition Munetaka Murakami, as they pushed through to the postseason in 2026.
Chicago is not done yet. The White Sox still have a shot at the AL Central title and a bye into the ALDS.
They spent much of the season in first place, but entered Thursday a half-game behind the Cleveland Guardians, pending Cleveland’s game in Boston later in the day. For now, Chicago sits as the American League’s No. 6 seed.
For a franchise that has only reached the playoffs three times since 2009 and has not won a playoff series since the 2005 World Series, the return to October lands as a major milestone. The White Sox close out the regular season at home with three games against the Colorado Rockies.
And the timing made the day even bigger across Chicago. The Cubs also clinched a playoff berth, making it just the fourth time both Chicago teams have reached the postseason in the same year, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com.
In Other News...
Chris Sales Don Cooper Tribute Hit White Sox Fans Hard
Chris Sale was sharp on the mound Tuesday night, fanning 10 over 5 innings as the Braves handled the Reds, but the bigger moment came after the final out. Sale turned reflective when the conversation shifted to Don Cooper, his first major league pitching coach, whose death was announced earlier in the day.
For White Sox fans, the tribute hit especially hard because Cooper was such a central figure in Sales rise. Sale spoke warmly about the coachs influence on his career and shared personal stories that underscored just how much of a presence Cooper had been, not only in shaping a left-hander who became one of the games best, but in leaving a mark that still resonates years later. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Prospect Standouts Are Starting To Clarify The Next Wave
The 2026 minor league season is over for most of the White Sox system, but a few names are still carrying the conversation into the Arizona Fall League. Even with that extra baseball still to come, the year has already offered a clearer look at the organizations next wave, with standouts emerging at each full-season affiliate and giving the front office a better sense of who is pushing toward the majors.
Rikuu Nishidas work at Triple-A Charlotte, Anthony DePinos performance at Double-A Birmingham, George Wolkows rise at High-A Winston-Salem and Jaden Fauskes progress at Low-A Kannapolis all helped define the seasons most encouraging developments. The group is not a finished product by any means, but together they give the White Sox a more detailed picture of what could be coming next, and which prospects are making the strongest case to be part of the clubs future. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Let First Place Slip Away In Another Costly Missed Chance
The White Sox had a chance to climb back into first place and instead let another one slip away in a 5-4 loss to the Royals, a game that felt winnable after Chicago answered an early Kansas City lead with a strong third inning to even things up. Instead, the Royals kept applying pressure and found the go-ahead run in the seventh, turning what had been a back-and-forth afternoon into another missed opportunity for a club trying to keep pace in the AL Central.
Colson Montgomerys night summed up some of the frustration, as he struck out three times and now ties the White Sox single-season strikeout record. For a team already dealing with the sting of a game it could not finish, that became another reminder of how thin the margin is when chances to reclaim the division lead come along and then get away. [Read more 🡒]