CHICAGO — The Chicago White Sox rebuild was well ahead of schedule with their run to the American League Division Series.
Some think the rebuild is done and the Sox are onto their next phase, only needing to add a few pieces to the puzzle to get back to the postseason, as they did after the pandemic-shortened 2020 season with Lance Lynn, Liam Hendriks and, of course, manager Tony La Russa.
But that’s not the way it works.
The ’21 Sox made it to October, but had a more experienced core than the one Will Venable has going into 2027. The ’26 Sox had an easier path to the postseason, and played a .500 Houston team in the wild-card series.
So the rebuild is not complete, and general manager Chris Getz has work to do to ensure they get back in 2027. (For the sake of this column, we’ll pretend 2027 will be a semi-normal season with a minimal loss of games due to the impending lockout).
Who is part of the Sox core?
That’s debatable, but my guess would be, in order: Miguel Vargas, Chase Meidroth, Grant Taylor, Sean Burke and Sam Antonacci.
No one else is untouchable, including Munetaka Murakami, who will be a free agent after ’27, and Kyle Teel, who did not deliver offensively and spent most of the season rehabbing injuries.
I’m sure Getz feels otherwise, as he should since they’re his players. Getz deserves credit for a season no one could’ve predicted, though his late-season pick-ups — Luis Castillo (-0.9 WAR with the Sox), Huascar Brazobán (0.1), Joey Bart (0.1), Brenton Doyle (0.4) and Tommy Pham (0.0) — provided little or no return.
The Sox need starting pitching and bullpen help, more contact hitters, a stronger bench and yes, more catching, as Teel and Edgar Quero both regressed.
Starting over
The Sox went all-in on analytics this postseason, abolishing pitching roles and starting from scratch. Davis Martin (1 inning), Anthony Kay (2 2/3 innings) and Noah Schultz (3 innings) were used out of the bullpen, except for one poor start by Kay in Game 2 of the ALDS that ended after three batters.
Burke was the only starter with a semi-normal role and was up for the challenge, proving he’s ace material. Erick Fedde made only two relief appearances, including the memorable bulk role in Game 3 of the ALDS, leaving to thunderous applause and the sound of 40,000 Sox fans chanting his name.
One fan asked me why Sox fans suddenly were so enamored with a journeyman pitcher like Fedde. My theory was that Sox fans understood Fedde was wrongfully demoted to a secondary role in the postseason and wanted to show Fedde they believed in him.
With Fedde gone, next year’s rotation should include Burke, Taylor, Hagen Smith and a free agent starter who will sign after the lockout ends. Veteran Sonny Gray would be a perfect choice. The rest of the ’26 starters who were demoted in the postseason can fight for the final spot, though Castillo, who is owed $22.7 million next year, is not a viable option.
Get the wallet out, Jerry Reinsdorf.
Ks for Kids
No 2027 Sox lineup can have both Murakami and Colson Montgomery in it and not expect 3-6 combined strikeouts a game between them, every game. Murakami has one year left on his two-year deal, and the Sox are open to an extension, which seems crazy after his second-half slide and postseason flop. Murakami acknowledged after ALDS Game 5 that he needs to learn to command the strike zone better, spit at those high fastballs and stay healthy. He said he’d work on it in the offseason, so hopefully he figures it out.
Montgomery hit 31 home runs and won’t be a free agent for four more years, but he struggled to find a groove and struck out a major-league record 227 times. The idea of waiting until No. 1 pick Roch Cholowsky is ready to replace him at shortstop seems ludicrous. If the Sox can find a team that thinks they can fix Montgomery’s swing, go for it. They can always move Meidroth to short and Antonacci to second, then figure it out when Cholowsky is ready.
Adjust as necessary
Hitting coach Derek Shomon seems like a nice guy. He’s loud and gregarious and his players enjoy his humor. But in the second half, the Sox finished 26th with a .230 average and a 24.7% strikeout rate, and were only 15th with a .718 OPS. Then they hit .211 in the postseason with a .611 OPS, along with an astonishing 96 strikeouts, a jaw-dropping 36% strikeout rate. After Cleveland’s Gavin Williams struck out 11 in 5 1/3 innings in Game 2, the Sox did nothing to adjust. Williams struck out 12 in 5 2/3 innings in Game 5, when the Sox set an all-time nine-inning record with 21 strikeouts.
Four of the bottom eight hitters this postseason in strikeout percentage are Sox: Murakami (51.6%), Braden Montgomery (50%), Teel (45.2%) and Colson Montgomery (42.3%). Two of the other eight are the Cubs’ Alex Bregman and Pete Crow-Armstrong, both at 50%, but they only played two games.
The Sox’ offensive meltdown was not all Shomon’s fault. But if they’re hoping for improvement from Teel, Braden Montgomery, Murakami and the rest, maybe a change in hitting philosophy is needed.
Read the room
Tommy Pham is one of a growing number of professional athletes cursed by a lack of self-awareness. It’s never his fault.
After he languished in the minors amid a bad reputation for previous antics, including slapping Joc Pederson, the Sox inexplicably gave Pham a shot in September as a right-handed bat off the bench. Pham was 3 for 17 (.176) in the regular season and 0 for 3 in the postseason. But he will mostly be remembered for his profanity-laden rant aimed at a sportswriter in the media room after Game 2 of the ALDS — a White Sox win, by the way.
There’s no warning label on Pham, but this kind of behavior was predictable. Venable could’ve escorted Pham out of the media room before the veteran made a scene, but chose to let him finish his rant. Pham didn’t help the Sox on the field, and he embarrassed himself off the field.
A Will and a way
Venable was lauded for his early pitching maneuvering in the postseason, deploying his relievers and basically ignoring all his starters — except Burke.
Bullpen coach Matt Wise did a terrific job getting all the pitchers ready for revised roles, and until Game 3 of the ALDS it was working. In hindsight, it’s a miracle the Sox won four of their seven postseason games when looking at the offensive numbers.
While the plan of employing a “bullpen day” for so many playoff games was not Venable’s alone, it clearly was not a plan that could be sustained. Smith’s control issues and Taylor’s fatigue were apparent by Game 4 of the ALDS, which was the backbreaker. Taylor had just one appearance of more than 2 innings in 60 outings this season, before a 2 1/3 inning stint in the wild-card opener at Houston and a 4-inning save in Game 1 of the ALDS.
Teel caught every inning of the postseason and was in the No. 2 hole in Game 5 despite his offensive struggles. He batted .207 with 14 strikeouts and one extra-base hit in 29 postseason at-bats. Veteran back-up Jake Rogers isn’t an everyday player, but he had a career .304 postseason average in seven games and could’ve at least pinch-hit against left-handers, if not started a game or two.
Antonacci stood out as the team’s sparkplug, but was not in the starting lineup for two of the ALDS games.
Venable is the likely favorite to be named American League Manager of the Year and deserves much credit for getting the Sox as far as he did. But analytics only go so far. Like his players, Venable can learn from his first postseason as manager.
All in all, a remarkable journey for the Sox, who became relevant again in Chicago under Venable.
But to stay that way, it will take more than a few tweaks this offseason.
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