As the final week of the 2024 Major League Baseball season looms, the Chicago White Sox find themselves on the brink of infamy. With a dismal 36-120 record, they are perilously close to setting the modern-era record for most losses in a single season, a dubious honor they currently share with the 1962 New York Mets.
Six games remain for the White Sox to avoid solidifying their place in baseball history as the team with the worst record. Their struggles this season have been pervasive, impacting every aspect of their game. The team’s batting statistics paint a bleak picture; slashing .220/.278/.339, they fall well below the league-average slash line of .244/.312/.400. This inefficiency at the plate is further underscored by their 76 OPS+, indicating they are performing 24% worse than the league average in terms of getting on base and hitting for power.
The White Sox's power drought is evident in their home run tally, a league-low 127 for the season. Even more striking is the absence of a single player hitting the 20-home run mark. Andrew Vaughn leads the team in both RBIs and runs, with 67 and 54 respectively, yet he ranks 103rd out of 130 qualifying players in OPS for the batting title.
Offensive frailties are compounded by their inability to generate runs, averaging just 3.07 per game, the lowest in the league. To put this in perspective, the Rays, who rank 29th in this category, average 3.78 runs per game. The stark contrast is also visible in their run differential; being outscored 799-479 has resulted in an alarming -320 run differential.
Defensively, the White Sox have also languished at the bottom. They sit dead last in total zone runs, with a cumulative -83, trailing the next worst team, the Marlins, who have -53. In stark contrast, the Brewers and Mariners are tied for first with 46 total zone runs, highlighting the vast gulf in defensive capabilities.
Pitching hasn't offered reprieve either. Erick Fedde, the team’s leader in Wins Above Replacement (WAR), has not pitched since July 27. The collective performance in FanGraphs' version of WAR is equally dismal, with the White Sox sitting at -6.8, making them the only team with a negative figure. The Rockies, who are 29th, still manage a positive 4.1 WAR. This stark statistic underscores the team’s woes.
On the road, their 16-62 record is the worst in the league, closely followed by the Rockies with 24 road wins. Home games haven’t been any better for the White Sox, holding a 20-58 record, again the worst in the league, with the Marlins' 30-51 record next in line. These records are new lows even for the White Sox, who had never lost more than 55 road games or 53 home games in a single season before this year.
The season has been marred by extended slumps, including losing streaks of 21, 14, and 12 straight games. Additionally, they have suffered losing streaks of seven, six, and two stints of five games each, one of which is still active. Historically, the White Sox endured 12-game losing streaks only three times before this season—in 1924, 1927, and 1967. Since the All-Star break, their record stands at a woeful 9-49, a figure that could see them set another unwanted record for the fewest second-half wins, a mark held by the A's, who went 15-61 in both 1915 and 1943.
The team’s best months were May and June, each with a 9-19 record, while their worst month was July, posting a 3-22 record. Despite the overall poor performance, the White Sox did manage winning records against five teams: the Braves (2-1), Rockies (2-1), Cardinals (2-1), Rays (4-2), and Nationals (2-1). However, against the rest of the AL Central, they are a shocking 12-41.
As the 2024 season draws to a close, the Chicago White Sox are facing the harsh reality of being branded the worst team in Major League Baseball history. Every metric reflects a season of unparalleled struggle, from their batting woes to their defensive lapses and pitching problems. It’s a season that the team and their fans will be eager to consign to the annals of history, albeit for all the wrong reasons.