With merely a week left in the 2024 Major League Baseball season, the Chicago White Sox are teetering on the brink of completing one of the worst campaigns in modern baseball history. At 36-120, they've already matched the infamous 1962 New York Mets with 120 losses, a benchmark of baseball futility that seemed untouchable for decades.
The White Sox's offensive performance this year has been abysmal. As a team, they are hitting a meager .220/.278/.339, well below the league-average slash line of .244/.312/.400. They're not just below average—they're being outpaced by nearly every team in the league. With an OPS+ of 76, they are 24% worse than the league average in terms of getting on base and hitting for power. This figure starkly illustrates their struggles at the plate.
Home runs have also been a scarce commodity for the team. With only 127 home runs this season, not a single player reaching the 20-home run milestone, they rank dead last in this crucial power-hitting category. Their offensive struggles are further highlighted by their dismal average of just 3.07 runs per game, the lowest in the league. By comparison, the team ranking 29th, the Rays, average 3.78 runs per game.
Defensively, the White Sox have fared no better. They have a league-worst total zone runs figure of -83, a stark contrast to the Brewers and Mariners, who lead the league with 46. The Marlins, who are the second-worst defensive team, have -53 total zone runs, underscoring just how far Chicago has fallen in this aspect of the game.
The team's overall performance has been reflected in their abysmal road and home records. They are 16-62 away from Guaranteed Rate Field, the worst road record in the league, with the Rockies following them at 24. At home, the Sox are 20-58, again the worst, with the Marlins having the next fewest home wins at 30-51. Before this disastrous season, the White Sox had never lost more than 55 road games or 53 home games in a season.
An examination of individual performances sheds more light on the team's woes. Andrew Vaughn, leading the team in RBIs and runs with 67 and 54, ranks 103rd out of 130 qualifying players in OPS for the batting title. Erick Fedde, who leads the team in WAR, hasn’t pitched since July 27, further hampering their chances to turn things around.
The collective performance in FanGraphs' version of WAR (-6.8) makes the White Sox the only team in the league with a negative figure. The Rockies, albeit struggling, still have a positive WAR of 4.1, emphasizing how uniquely poor Chicago's season has been.
Long losing streaks have punctuated the White Sox's 2024 campaign. They endured three significant slumps—21, 14, and 12 straight losses. Additional losing streaks of seven, six, and two stints of five, with one of those still active, make up a season filled with disheartening streaks. Historically, before this season, the team's longest losing streaks of 12 games or more had occurred only thrice—in 1924, 1927, and 1967.
Post All-Star break, the White Sox have a record of 9-49. No team has ever finished a full second half with fewer than 15 wins, a dubious record held by the A's, who went 15-61 in both 1915 and 1943. This speculated new low for the White Sox is a stern testament to their disappointing finish.
The team had their best months in May and June, both with a 9-19 record. July was particularly disastrous, seeing them go 3-22, the worst single month of their excruciating season. Remarkably, the White Sox managed winning records against only five teams: the Braves (2-1), Rockies (2-1), Cardinals (2-1), Rays (4-2), and Nationals (2-1).
Within their division, the AL Central, their record stands at a dismal 12-41, encapsulating a season that is, by all accounts, the worst in Major League Baseball history for the Chicago White Sox.