With just one week left in the 2024 Major League Baseball season, the Chicago White Sox find themselves on the brink of an infamous milestone. At a staggering 36-120, they are now tied with the 1962 New York Mets for the most losses in modern baseball history. With six games remaining, the team is perilously close to setting a new record for futility.
Across the board, the White Sox’s statistics paint a bleak picture. Their team slash line of .220/.278/.339 is well below the league average of .244/.312/.400. Their OPS+ of 76 starkly reveals that they are 24% worse than the league average in terms of getting on base and hitting for power. The team’s offensive deficiencies are glaring; they rank dead last in home runs with only 127 for the season. Not a single player has reached the 20-home run mark.
Struggling Offense
The offensive woes extend beyond just home runs. The White Sox average a mere 3.07 runs per game—the lowest in the league. For context, the second-worst team in this category, the Tampa Bay Rays, average 3.78 runs per game. The team has been outscored 799-479, resulting in a staggering -320 run differential, another league-worst statistic.
Andrew Vaughn has been the team's leading contributor in both RBIs and runs, tallying 67 and 54 respectively. However, his individual performance ranks him 103rd out of 130 qualifying players in OPS for the batting title, further emphasizing the team’s offensive struggles.
Defensive Woes
The team’s defensive performance has been equally dismal. The White Sox have the worst defensive metrics in the league with -83 total zone runs. For comparison, the next worst team, the Miami Marlins, have -53 total zone runs. In stark contrast, the Milwaukee Brewers and Seattle Mariners are tied for the league's best with 46 total zone runs each.
Pitching Problems
Erick Fedde, the team’s leader in Wins Above Replacement (WAR), hasn’t pitched since July 27. The White Sox's cumulative performance in FanGraphs’ version of WAR is a dismal -6.8, marking them as the only team with a negative figure. To put this into perspective, the Colorado Rockies, who rank 29th, have a positive 4.1 WAR.
Record-Breaking Ineptitude
Their road record of 16-62 is the worst in the league, with the Rockies holding the next fewest road wins at 24. At home, the White Sox are 20-58, also the league's lowest. Previously, the team had never lost more than 55 road games or 53 home games in a single season, underscoring just how unprecedented this season has been for them.
The White Sox have endured three significant slumps this season with losing streaks of 21, 14, and 12 games each. Additional losing streaks of seven, six, and two stints of five losses—for one of which is still active—have compounded their misery. Remarkably, the team had only experienced losing streaks of 12 games or more three times in its history prior to this season—in 1924, 1927, and 1967.
Second Half Collapse
Since the All-Star break, the White Sox are 9-49. No team has ever won fewer than 15 games in a full second half, a dubious record currently held by the A's, who went 15-61 in 1915 and 1943. The White Sox’s best months were May and June, both with 9-19 records. Their worst month, July, saw them go 3-22.
Some Bright Spots
In the midst of this tumultuous season, the White Sox managed winning records against just five teams: the Braves (2-1), Rockies (2-1), Cardinals (2-1), Rays (4-2), and Nationals (2-1). However, against the rest of their divisional foes in the AL Central, they sit at a miserable 12-41.
This harrowing season not only represents a nadir for the Chicago White Sox but also adds an unfortunate chapter to Major League Baseball history. With just a few games left, the team faces an arduous journey to prevent themselves from setting a new benchmark for the lowest point in modern professional baseball.