With just one week remaining in the 2024 Major League Baseball season, the Chicago White Sox find themselves on the verge of setting an unenviable record. At 36-120, the White Sox have matched the infamy of the 1962 New York Mets, who also ended their season with 120 losses. But with six games left to play, the White Sox are poised to set a new benchmark for futility in modern baseball history.
As a team, Chicago's struggles are glaring. Their collective batting average of .220/.278/.339 is significantly below the league-average slash line of .244/.312/.400. This abysmal performance at the plate is further underscored by an OPS+ of 76, which indicates they are 24% worse than the league average in terms of getting on base and hitting for power. In an era when power hitting is a premium skill, the White Sox rank dead last in home runs, having managed just 127 this season. Not a single player on the roster has reached the 20-home run milestone.
Andrew Vaughn, the team's leader in both RBIs and runs, has driven in a mere 67 runs and crossed the plate 54 times. Within the context of the league, Vaughn's production places him 103rd out of 130 qualifying batters in terms of OPS for the batting title. This statistical struggle is mirrored by the team's overall offensive output—an average of just 3.07 runs per game, the lowest in the league. To put this in perspective, the Tampa Bay Rays, who rank 29th, average 3.78 runs per game.
The White Sox's offensive woes are matched only by their defensive inefficiencies. With -83 total zone runs, they are the worst defensive team in baseball. The Miami Marlins, who rank just above them, have -53 total zone runs, highlighting the vast defensive chasm. In stark contrast, the Milwaukee Brewers and Seattle Mariners lead the league with 46 total zone runs each.
Pitching has provided little solace for the struggling franchise. Erick Fedde, the team's leader in Wins Above Replacement (WAR), has not pitched since July 27. The White Sox's collective performance in FanGraphs' version of WAR is a disastrous -6.8, making them the only team with a negative figure. The Colorado Rockies, who are 29th, still maintain a positive 4.1 WAR.
The narrative of ineptitude extends to their road and home records. The White Sox's 16-62 record on the road is the worst in the league, with the Rockies having the next fewest road wins at 24. At Guaranteed Rate Field, they fare no better with a 20-58 record, again the worst in the league. Before this season, the White Sox had never lost more than 55 road games or 53 home games in a single campaign.
Lengthy slumps have characterized the season, including three-different losing streaks of 21, 14, and 12 straight games. They have also endured losing streaks of seven, six, and two separate stints of five games, one of which remains active. Before 2024, the White Sox had experienced losing streaks of 12 games or more just three times in their history, in 1924, 1927, and 1967.
Since the All-Star break, the White Sox are 9-49, a record that threatens to make history. No team has ever won fewer than 15 games in a full second half, a dubious milestone held by the A's, who went 15-61 in both 1915 and 1943.
The team's nadir was July, when they posted a 3-22 record. However, the months of May and June were marginally less disastrous with identical 9-19 records. Despite managing winning records against five teams—the Braves, Rockies, Cardinals, Rays, and Nationals—their performance against AL Central opponents is abysmal, with a 12-41 record.
The 2024 season is undeniably the worst in the storied history of the Chicago White Sox. As they inch closer to setting a new record for losses, the hope is that lessons learned from this catastrophic year will lay the groundwork for a brighter, more competitive future.