After the fourth 100-loss season in franchise history, the Chicago White Sox hope their highly-regarded farm system is ready to shine.
With eight losses in their final nine games, the 2018 Chicago White Sox accomplished something no White Sox team had done since 1970. Unfortunately, it was not a positive accomplishment. They were the first White Sox team to lose 100 games in a season since that 1970 squad that was led by 36-year-old Luis Aparacio and 27-year-old Tommy John before John had the now ubiquitous surgery that is named after him.
At 56-106, the 1970 White Sox had the most losses in franchise history. The 2018 team finished 62-100, which landed them with the fourth-most losses ever for a White Sox team. It also extended their playoff drought to 10 seasons. They’ve finished over .500 just twice during that time.
Heading into the season, the White Sox weren’t expected to be contenders, but there was hope that their mix of youth and veterans would be enough to make them better than the year before. After going 67-95 in 2017, the White Sox were expected to win around 70 games.
Their season started well with two wins in March, but a 6-18 record in April and 8-19 record in May dropped them to 16-37 heading into June. Their .302 winning percentage was the worst in baseball, even worse than the terrible Baltimore Orioles.
Just when you thought it was hopeless, the White Sox turned things around in June, July and August by going 38-44, a .463 winning percentage for 82 games, which is slightly more than a half a season. This kind of improvement is what fans like to see out of a team going through a rebuild. Perhaps it was a sign that the young players were getting better and the team was ready to take a leap forward in 2019?
Perhaps not. The White Sox went 8-19 in September, which included losing 11 of their final 14 games. After a hopeful 82-game stretch, the team went back to playing as poorly as they had in May. They finished the season with the third-worst record in baseball.
Even in a bad season, there were good things that happened. Let’s take a look at the positives for the 2018 Chicago White Sox.