"Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025

[jksander]

May 8, 2026: Drew Rasmussen (1-2, 4.08 ERA, 28.2 IP, 35 K’s, 1.15 WHIP) pitched against Max Fried (2-3, 5.86 ERA, 35.1 IP, 28 K’s, 1.42 WHIP) in game one against the Yankees, and we had a real duel on our hands early on, until we broke it open in the top of the fifth with an RBI single by Yordys Valdes! Chase Meidroth hit an RBI single moments later, and Heston Kjerstad added a flyball double that batted home Meidroth, giving us a 3-0 lead midway through the inning! Rasmussen got us through the bottom of the inning, and Jonathan Cannon took the ball in the sixth to keep us in control. Eduard Bazardo took over in the seventh, and it did NOT go well ... three hits, the final of which was a three-run homer by Chisholm Jr, and we had to pull him for Alvarado after just eight pitches. But we’ve tasted winning and seem to enjoy it, as we came out hitting in the eighth, scoring off an RBI double by Tauchman, and getting two more from a single by Valdes to lead 6-3 heading into the bottom of the inning. Ryan Helsley came out to pitch, and we added two more runs in the top of the ninth to put us firmly in control so he stayed out in the ninth as we manhandled the Yankees 8-3. How’s that for some offense, White Sox fans? We outhit them 11-7, led by Kjerstad with two hits, a run and three RBIs, and Alvarado took the win, improving to 1-0 with a 5.84 ERA after a three hit, two walk, one strikeout start by Rasmussen.
 
May 9, 2026: Dylan Cease (1-3, 4.06 ERA, 37.2 IP, 34 K’s, 1.06 WHIP) got the start in game two against the Yankees, taking on Brandon Woodruff (2-1, 4.15 ERA, 34.2 IP, 31 K’s, 1.15 WHIP). We took the lead in the top of the second thanks to an RBI single by Valenzuela that was coupled with an E9 throwing error that allowed Vargas to score. Brooks Lee then added on with a single that pushed home Vargas, and we went into the bottom of the inning leading 2-0. Cease got us into the stretch with that lead unchanged, and Luis Sanchez took over for him in the top of the eighth, striking out the side! He was in total control, shutting them down in the ninth as well as we were able to stump the Yankees 2-0! Cease gave us seven innings with six hits and seven strikeouts, improving to 2-3 with a 3.43 ERA, while Sanchez saved his third game, a two-inning effort with five strikeouts and no baserunners. We outhit the Yankees 8-6, led by Brandon Valenzuela, who hit three times and scored one of our two runs.

With the win, we’ve moved into a tie for second in the AL Central with the Twins, just 4.5 games back of the 21-13 Guardians as we are now just one game off of .500! After opening the month with a pair of losses, we’ve now gone 6-1 in our last seven games, and our run differential is inching closer to even, just at -5 now through 33 games!

May 10, 2026: Noah Schultz (2-1, 2.31 ERA, 39.0 IP, 46 K’s, 0.67 WHIP) pitched our final game against the Yankees, going toe to toe with Garrett Crochet (5-2, 2.00 ERA, 45.0 IP, 51 K’s, 0.96 WHIP), who is emerging as New York’s ace just 17 months after leaving our team in a trade for Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery, Chase Meidroth and Wikelman Gonzalez. Both pitchers came into the game red-hot, so nobody expected a lot of offense in a very duel-worthy matchup. New York broke through the stalemate in the bottom of the fourth with a one-out solo homer by Aaron Judge, but Yordys Valdes hit a two-run homer in the top of the fifth to put us on top 2-1, just the third time the 24-year-old shortstop has homered this year! Joey Gallo hit one in the sixth, which amazingly was his first homer of the season, but Judge hit his second of the game in the bottom of the inning with two outs, keeping the Yankees close. Eduard Bazardo took over with two outs and nobody on, getting us out of the inning with a pop-up to center by Nathaniel Lowe, and Ha-seong Kim got into the homer sweepstakes with a solo blast in the top of the seventh to give us a 4-2 lead going into the stretch, his second homer of the year! Jose Alvarado took over in the bottom of the seventh, and with two outs the Yankees brought their fans to their feet with a two-run double by Blake Crim that tied this one up 4-4. Alvarado then let Anthony Volpe hit an RBI single to take the lead before we finally got out out of the inning. But in the top of the eighth, Valenzuela hit a hard shot into center-right, coming out of it with an RBI triple in all the outfield confusion, driving in two to put us back up 6-5! Julian Merryweather took over in the eighth with a runner on first, no outs, and he successfully kept us in the lead through the remainder of the inning, stranding runners on the corners. Ben Joyce came out to pitch in the bottom of the ninth still leading by one run, and with icewater running through his veins he held firm as we beat the Yanks 6-5 to complete the sweep! Alvarado blew the save, his first, but improved to 2-0 with a 7.42 ERA in the win, surviving a rough two hit, four walk three earned run performance. We matched them on hits, seven against seven, led by our eighth and ninth hitters in the lineup, as Valenzuela and Valdes each had a hit, a run and two RBIs (with Valenzuela walking once as well for good measure.

The win pulls us to dead even, 17-17, and we’re now in sole control of second place in the AL Central, a full game up on the Twins who are now 16-18. We’ll stay in New York for three against the Mets, who at 17-17 are also in second place in their division, trailing the Braves by three games. We’ve now won four in a row to their two, but this should be an incredible series as we start our season fresh!

[jksander]

May 11, 2026: The White Sox haven’t had a winning record at any point in a season since sometime in the 2022 season, when we wound up finishing 81-81, failing to repeat as division champs. Now we’re still relatively early in our current season, but we’ve got a chance to make a real statement against the Mets, Brandon Pfaadt (2-1, 4.18 ERA, 28.0 IP, 28 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) going up against Freddy Peralta (2-2, 3.76 ERA, 40.2 IP, 40 K’s, 1.18 WHIP). And it went south quickly, when Pfaadt had to be pulled from the game with two outs and a man on in the bottom of the FIRST INNING ... diagnosis pending. Ryan Weber took over and got us out of the inning without anyone scoring, and Joey Gallo gave us the lead with a solo bomb in the top of the second. The Mets tied it with a solo homer of their own off the bat of Jeff McNeil in the bottom of the third, but Weber was able to keep it that way through the rest of the inning, and Bellinger hit one in the top of the fourth to put us back up 2-1. Noah Syndergaard took the ball in the bottom of the fourth, and Ryan Clifford hit a leadoff homer to tie it 2-2 ... this one’s going to be a long one. A few minutes later Jose Siri hit a two-run slam out of left to give the Mets a two-run lead, and we had our work cut out for us. But give credit to our hitters, they came out FIRED UP in the fifth, Kjerstad hitting an RBI single and Bellinger going yard for the second time, piling on three more with a homer to give us the lead 6-4! Syndergaard loaded the bags in the bottom of the inning but held firm and got the outs we needed to keep New York from scoring, and Gary Sanchez scored off a wild pitch in the sixth to extend our lead to three runs. Luis Sanchez came out in the bottom of the sixth and after getting two outs he gave everything back and more ... a two-run double by Ryan Clifford shot the Mets into the lead 8-7, as this game threatened to give me a managerial stroke. Ryan Helsley took over in the bottom of the seventh, and Bazardo took over in the eighth, giving up a solo homer to Francisco Alvarez to extend the Mets’ lead. We went down quietly from there, losing this one 9-7 to snap our winning streak.

Sanchez blew the save and got his first loss of the year, allowing five hits with four runs and just one strikeout in a game that blew his ERA up to 4.03 through 22.1 innings. But we were in this one way past the point of sanity, considering the Mets outhit us 17-7, a bludgeoning that should have seen us get completely slaughtered after losing our pitcher two outs into the game. Cody Bellinger led the way with two hits (both homers), two runs and four RBIs.

May 12, 2026: No word on Pfaadt’s injury as we go into game two, Sean Burke (2-2, 4.61 ERA, 27.1 IP, 30 K’s, 1.32 WHIP) pitching against David Peterson (0-2, 6.59 ERA, 27.1 IP, 20 K’s, 1.54 WHIP). Yesterday’s game blew our bullpen to pieces, and aside from Cannon and Joyce who are well rested, only Merryweather (74%) and Weber (63%) and Helsley (59%) are even remotely capable of pitching ... so Burke was likely to have a longer leash than usual tonight regardless of how the early innings go. Unfortunately the Mets took a quick lead off an RBI single by Juan Soto in the bottom of the first, and a sac-fly by Brandon Nimmo added on. We answered by getting on the board when Bellinger scored off a wild pitch in the top of the second, and Burke settled down in the bottom of the inning, keeping us within the one run. A two-run double by Kjerstad put us into the lead 3-2 in the top of the third, and we piled on four more runs in the top of the fifth as we took control out of nowhere with a Joey Gallo GRAND SLAM! Jonathan Cannon took over with a five-run lead in the top of the sixth, getting through the inning with just one run going back the Mets’ way, powering through the seventh with little trouble at all to keep our lead at 7-3 heading into the top of the eighth. Chase Meidroth got us the run back with an RBI single, but the Mets got a two-run homer from Soto in the bottom of the inning, and with no outs we had to bring out Ben Joyce as they pulled back within three. Joyce struck out three around a pair of baserunners, getting us into the ninth with the lead still safe, and Merryweather came out in the bottom of the ninth to try and close this out. He pitched around a walk by Francisco Lindor to help us clinch the 8-5 win, another hard-fought victory for our White Sox on the road! Burke improved to 3-2 with a 4.45 ERA, lasting five innings with four hits, a walk, five strikeouts and two earned runs. We outhit New York 10-6, led by Gallo, whose third homer of the season got us four RBIs to lead the team!

The news on Brandon Pfaadt is bad ... all around, bad ... the 27-year-old has severe elbow inflamation, and will miss AT LEAST two to three months, with no expectation for a return before August. We’ve put him on the 60-day IL, and for now Ryan Weber is going to step into our starting rotation full time. Andre Lipcius is coming back up to add depth off the bench in the infield, and we’re considering options on potentially trading for a pitcher to fill the role more permanently ... we’re in talks with Detroit about Tyler Holton and with Cincinnati about Nick Lodolo, but it’s going to take some hammering on a deal, so no sense rushing things.
 
May 13, 2026: Drew Rasmussen (1-2, 3.48 ERA, 33.2 IP, 36 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) pitched in our rubber match against the Mets, battling Frankie Montas (2-2, 4.71 ERA, 28.2 IP, 24 K’s, 1.36 WHIP). Miguel Vargas hit a three-run homer in the top of the second to give us an early lead, and Tauchman hit a two-run single to add on in the top of the third! The Mets got on the board in the bottom of the third with an RBI double by Brett Baty, and Rasmussen started to fall apart, letting them have two more off a double by Soto with just one out ... but he calmed things with two quick outs to get us into the fourth still leading 5-3. Bellinger hit a solo homer to start the top of the fourth, but we had to bring out Syndergaard to pitch in the fifth as Rasmussen had thrown way too wildly in the first four innings, wearing himself down, and this one became another game of bullpen chess. Syndergaard got us through two solid innings, and an RBI single for Cedanne Rafaela increased our margin to four runs as we went into the stretch leading 7-3. Jonathan Cannon came out to pitch in the bottom of the inning, and after a two-out triple by Francisco Alvarez in the bottom of the eighth, Ryan Helsley took over, getting the out we needed thanks to a grounder to first by Ryan Clifford. Bellinger hit a solo homer in the top of the ninth, his second of the game and seventh of the season, and Helsley shut them down in the bottom of the inning as we won this one 8-3, taking the series two games to one and giving ourselves a winning record for the first time in recent memory! Syndergaard improved to 1-2 with an 8.18 ERA thanks to two innings with a hit and a strikeout, and we outhit New York 11-6, led by Bellinger who hit twice (both homers) for three runs and two RBIs! The bad news is Kjerstad was injured, the main reason we had to bring Bellinger into the lineup today in the first place ... it was an impact injury sliding into base, and he is still being evaluated.

May 14, 2026: The news isn’t great about Kjerstad, but it’s far from the worst case scenario. He’s dealing with knee tendinitis, an will need to be out of the lineup for at least three weeks. We’ve added him to our 10-day IL, calling up Joshua Mears to play in the outfield in his absence. In other news, we’ve made a trade with the Reds that, instead of getting us Nick Lodolo, ACTUALLY gets us top-line pitcher Zac Gallen, with the team retaining 75% of his contract (worth $11.8M in savings each year through 2029!) In return, we’re giving up Joey Gallo, who has not been happy on the bench, along with power-reliever Luis Sanchez, our rule five pick this past winter. I hate giving Sanchez up, but to get Gallen ... a player who has put up a 71-48 record and a 3.38 career ERA ... I just couldn’t say no, despite several heated arguments with our assistant GM over it. In the end, our owner sided with me and we all know Reinsdorf gets what he wants.

Gallen’s officially on our 26-man roster ahead of our upcoming homestand, though he’s not slated to start until at least game three against Miami, and potentially not until the first game of our Pittsburgh series. We’ve called up Lenyn Sosa to take Gallo’s spot on the bench.

[jksander]

May 15, 2026: Miami is terrible this year, coming into this series against us at Rate Field with a 10-27 record, worst in the majors by a long shot. We, meanwhile, have won eight of our last 10 games and actually have a winning record and a positive run differential (+2) along with firm control of second place in the AL Central, if we can keep our heads on straight. The fans are still abuzz about the move that sent us Zac Gallen, and the big topic on the sports talk shows has been whether the Reds were undervaluing Gallen, overvaluing Gallo, or both. We’ll see how it shakes out, but getting a top-level pitcher for four years with the other team paying 75 percent, it was impossible for me to say no.

Noah Schultz (2-1, 2.42 ERA, 44.2 IP, 54 K’s, 0.69 WHIP) pitched in game one against the Marlins, facing Chris Bassitt (0-3, 5.54 ERA, 37.1 IP, 32 K’s, 1.66 WHIP). This one turned into the most unlikely pitching duels you’ll ever see, and we got dinged first when Miami went up 1-0 off an RBI single by Agustin Ramirez in the top of the sixth. Bassitt made it through six innings as well, holding that lead as he personally held us to just three hits, and we were going to have to count on our bats and our bullpen with Helsley taking over in the top of the seventh. Helsley got us through the eighth with the Marlins’ lead still just 1-0. He got the first two outs in the ninth as well, with Alvarado coming out to strike out Max Kepler, bringing us out to hit still down a run with time running out. But our bats were completely useless tonight, and Miami got an improbable 1-0 win out of us while our fans looked on stunned. Schultz went six innings with eight hits, four strikeouts and the one earned run, falling to 2-2 with a 2.31 ERA, while we only picked up four hits all game. Helsley struck out four without a single baserunner in his 2.1 innings, but you have to score to win. Closest we got was Kim, leading off with a hit and a walk.
 
May 16, 2026: Dylan Cease (2-3, 3.43 ERA, 44.2 IP, 41 K’s, 1.03 WHIP) pitched against Eury Perez (2-2, 4.85 ERA, 39.0 IP, 43 K’s, 1.69 WHIP) in game two against the Marlins, and this time we got on the board quickly, Ceddanne Rafaela hitting a three-run homer in the bottom of the first. Tauchman batted in a run with a single in the bottom of the third to add on, and we scored three more in the bottom of the fifth to turn this into a rout. Jonathan Cannon took over in the top of the seventh, leading by seven runs, and he pitched well in the seventh but gave up three hits in a row, including an RBI single to Eugenio Suarez, blowing the shutout in the eighth. He gave up two more runs before we were able to get Ryan Weber warmed in the pen, but he took over with runners on first and second and one out, the lead now at four. And this one turned into a farce quickly ... after striking out Marco Luciano, Weber let Harrison Bader hit an RBI single, and Max Kepler added on with an RBI single of his own to get the Marlins back within two! Eduard Bazardo came out with two outs and men on second and third, and was able to get Connor Norby to ground out to first -- but we’d gone from 7-0 to 7-5 all in the top of the eighth. Thank God for Cody Bellinger, who came out in the bottom of the inning on two outs and hit a two-run homer out of left, extending our lead back to four and giving us momentum again. Joshua Mears hit a solo shot out of left to add on, and Bazardo stayed out with a five-run lead as we shut them down to win 10-5. Cease improved to 3-3 with a 3.02 ERA, thanks to six innings with five hits, two walks and eight strikeouts, and after Weber picked up a hold following Cannon’s meltdown, Bazardo earned his first save with a 1.1 inning effort, walking one with no other baserunners ... he now has a 3.66 ERA through 19.2 innings. We outhit Miami 12-10, led by Rafaela with three hits, a run and three RBIs, while Bellinger added two hits, two runs and three RBIs, hitting his ninth homer of the year.

May 17, 2026: Zac Gallen (4-1, 2.88 ERA, 50.0 IP, 45 K’s, 1.16 WHIP) made his White Sox debut this afternoon in front of nearly 25,000 fans, facing Tyler Viza (0-4, 4.94 ERA, 33.1 IP, 19 K’s, 1.65 WHIP), and Miami gave him a huge “f--- you” when Harrison Bader led off with a solo homer. The Marlins then quickly amassed a 4-0 lead as they put Gallen through the wringer, drawing boos from our fans who were restless quickly. Joshua Mears quieted them somewhat with his two-run single in the bottom of the inning, and Mike Tauchman hit a solo homer in the bottom of the second to cut the lead to one. Agustin Ramirez hit a solo homer to extend their lead in the top of the fourth, but Gary Sanchez hit an RBI single to cut it again in the bottom of the inning, and Ceddanne Rafaela tied it up with a solo bomb out of right in the bottom of the fifth, Gallen getting us through the top of the sixth with a chance to take control of this one! A two-out RBI double by Ha-seong Kim did the trick, giving us a 6-5 lead heading into the top of the seventh with Julian Merryweather taking the ball. With one out and Eugenio Suarez on first in the top of the eighth we brought out Jose Alvarado, silencing them as we went into the bottom of the inning still leading by a run. Chase Meidroth bought us some insurance when his sac-fly got a run across to give us a two-run ninth inning advantage, and Ben Joyce handled business in the top of the ninth as we held tough to win 7-5! Zac Gallen didn’t make it easy, but he got the win, allowing seven hits and five earned runs with four strikeouts in his six innings ... and then our bullpen held it, with Joyce getting his fourth save and improving his ERA to 4.35 through 10.1 innings. We outhit Miami 10-9, led by Gary Sanchez, who hit twice with an RBI, as Mears added a hit and two RBIs.

We definitely miss having Kjerstad in the lineup, but we’ve been making it work ... we now hold a 21-19 record heading into the series against the 18-22 Pirates, and against all odds we’re now within three games of the 25-17 Guardians! We’ve won 11 of our last 14 games but these will be our last three home games before a 10-game road stretch that will include seven divisional games. So we can’t take our foot off the gas or we’ll lose all our momentum.

[jksander]

May 18, 2026: Sean Burke (3-2, 4.45 ERA, 32.1 IP, 35 K’s, 1.27 WHIP) pitched in game one, facing the Pirates’ young starter Jared Jones (3-1, 2.79 ERA, 42.0 IP, 49 K’s, 1.05 WHIP). The Pirates went up 2-0 in the top of the second with a two-run homer out of right by Jack Suwinski, and Burke eventually loaded the bases though we were able to get out of the inning with a pop-fly to left, leaving them all stranded. In the bottom of the inning we tied it up with a two-run blast by Mike Tauchman, and Brandon Valenzuela hit a solo bomb out of right to get us into the lead 3-2. Burke got two outs and then another homer flew over the right field wall, this one ALSO by Suwinski, so we went into the bottom of the inning tied up 3-3 and Burke’s night appeared to be over ... another rough one upcoming for the bullpen? Eduard Bazardo came out to pitch in the top of the fourth, and Noah Syndergaard took over in the top of the sixth, and in the bottom of that inning Joshua Mears powered us into the lead with a solo homer, putting us up 4-3 heading into the seventh in a game that had been pretty much all dingers all night. Ryan Helsley took the ball in the top of the eighth, still leading by a run, and Ryan Weber came out to pitch in the top of the ninth while Joyce warmed up, getting two outs before Spencer Horwitz hit a single to get on base. Ben Joyce came out to face Ke’Bryan Hayes, who singled into center, advancing Horwitz to third, and then former White Sox hitter Michael A. Taylor struck out swinging as we held tough to win 4-3! Noah Syndergaard got the win, improving to 2-2 with a 7.50 ERA, striking out a pair with no baserunners in his two innings. Helsley and Weber earned holds, and Joyce picked up a high leverage save on six pitches, getting the out we needed on strikes to give him five saves this season. Neither team hit more than five times, ours led by Mears who hit twice with two runs and an RBI off his second homer of the year.
 
May 19, 2026: Drew Rasmussen (1-2, 3.82 ERA, 37.2 IP, 42 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) pitched against Dustin May (3-3, 2.40 ERA, 41.1 IP, 45 K’s, 1.33 WHIP) in game two against the Pirates, and his night didn’t start off well ... an error immediately gave them a baserunner, and with no outs Termarr Johnson hit an RBI double to drive in the game’s first run. Rasmussen has been hit or miss this year, either super-hot or super-cold, and tonight it was the latter ... by the time we came up to hit for the first time we were in a 3-0 hole and he’d thrown 33 pitches. Cody Bellinger got us on the board with a two-run homer in the bottom of the third, his 10th of the season, and Julian Merryweather took over in the top of the fifth with two outs and nobody on, getting us into the sixth with the game still competitive. He managed to get us through the sixth as well, and Miguel Vargas tied the score with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the sixth! Jose Alvarado came out to pitch in the top of the seventh, and Jonathan Cannon took the ball with two outs and Joey Bart on first in the top of the eighth, getting us into the bottom of the inning still tied at 3-3. He got us through the ninth as well, and in the bottom of the inning Andre Lipcius came up as our leadoff hitter and slugged one out of left to walk this off as a 4-3 win! Jonathan Cannon improved to 2-0 with a 5.12 ERA, pitching 1.1 innings with a strikeout and no baserunners as we won our second bullpen game in a row. We outhit the Pirates 10-7, led by Bellinger who had two hits, a run and two RBIs.

Incredibly, we’ve now won four in a row for the second time this MONTH, and we now hold a 23-19 record, closing the gap with Cleveland who only lead us by two games in the division (though it should be noted the Guardians have a 4-2 lead on us so far in the season series so effectively it’s a three-game lead)! We’ve got one game left against the Pirates, and then will spend the rest of the month on the road (though three of them are against our Northside rivals). Kjerstad still has four days left of official time on the IL, though his injury will require him to stay on the list for at least another two weeks before we can consider whether a rehab assignment will be necesssary.

May 20, 2026: Noah Schultz (2-2, 2.31 ERA, 50.2 IP, 58 K’s, 0.77 WHIP) pitched against Mitch Keller (1-2, 3.02 ERA, 47.2 IP, 44 K’s, 0.92 WHIP) in our third game against the Pirates and our final home game of the month. Back to back homers by Vargas and Lipcius put us ahead in the bottom of the third, and we added on with a two-run double by Bellinger and an RBI single for Ceddanne Rafaela to lead 5-0 heading into the top of the fourth. Jonathan Cannon took over in the top of the seventh with two outs and Ke’Bryan Hayes on first, still leading by five runs, but the shutout didn’t last ... Jorge Mateo hit an RBI triple that drove home two runs, and he scored off a wild pitch as Cannon struggled to get the one out we needed him to get. Finally he struck out Oneil Cruz swinging to end the inning, sending us into the stretch still leading 5-3. Ryan Helsley took over in the top of the eighth, and he promptly resumed the meltdown, loading the bags and letting Pittsburgh score two off a no-outs double by Henry Davis. Alvarado took over from there, and he stunned them by squelching the rally with three quick outs to strand all three runners, sending us into the bottom of the inning tied 5-5, Schultz’s best start of the season officially wasted. Cody Bellinger got us the lead back with a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth, and Ben Joyce took over wanting to put this one to bed. But with two outs and men on first and second, Spencer Horwitz tied it up with an RBI single, and we came up to hit in the bottom of the ninth tied yet again. With two outs, and Gary Sanchez on second base, Yordys Valdes came through in the clutch, winning this one with a walkoff single as we took the game 7-6, completing the sweep!

Noah Schultz pitched 6.2 innings with four hits, 13 STRIKEOUTS and one run against him, but Helsley and Joyce each blew save attempts, and Joyce came out of it with the win as he improved to 3-1 with a 4.63 ERA. They outhit us 10-9, our bats led by Bellinger who hit three times with two runs and three RBIs, including his 11th homer of the year.

We have a much-needed rest day tomorrow, and will then begin a three-game series at Wrigley Field against the 19-24 Cubs, who are third in the NL Central at the moment. We’re riding a five-game winning streak and an 8-2 stretch in our last ten games, just a game behind the Guardians in the AL Central race. Our run differential is now +11, and we’re 9-7 in one-run games, with an 11-10 record on the road.

[jksander]

May 21, 2026: We come into this first game against the Cubs with a five-game win streak and having won our last three games by one run apiece, all of them brutally close until the very end. So we’ve been riding the edge of a sharp knife, which makes it hard to know if we can really trust how good we’ve been this month ... are we truly a contender, or just on a lucky streak? Any time you can go 14-5 in a month you’re doing something right, but we have to keep finding ways to win, and to get our starters to actually play deep into games. Still, though their ERAs don’t necessarily show it, our bullpen has come through when needed:

Ben Joyce (3-1, 4.63 ERA, 11.2 IP, 14 K’s, 1.89 WHIP, 0.6 WAR)
Jose Alvarado (2-0, 5.82 ERA, 17.0 IP, 25 K’s, 1.41 WHIP, 0.5 WAR)
Jonathan Cannon (2-0, 5.49 ERA, 19.2 IP, 17 K’s, 1.37 WHIP, 0.2 WAR)
Ryan Helsley (1-2, 4.35 ERA, 20.2 IP, 23 K’s, 1.02 WHIP, 0.1 WAR)
Julian Merryweather (0-3, 3.26 ERA, 19.1 IP, 25 K’s 1.50 WHIP, 0.1 WAR)
Eduard Bazardo (2-0, 3.32 ERA, 21.2 IP, 16 K’s, 1.11 WHIP, -0.2 WAR)
Ryan Weber (0-0, 3.52 ERA, 7.2 IP, 3 K’s, 1.70 WHIP, -0.2 WAR
Noah Syndergaard (2-2, 7.50 ERA, 24.0 IP, 15 K’s, 1.46 WHIP, -0.5 WAR)

Dylan Cease (3-3, 3.02 ERA, 50.2 IP, 49 K’s, 1.05 WHIP) got the ball in game one against the Cubs, his ninth start of the season, and through his first eight starts he’s pitched six quality starts, so he’s been our most consistent starter. Tonight at Wrigley he went up against Buck Farmer (0-2, 5.84 ERA, 12.1 IP, 10 K’s, 1.38 WHIP) in front of more than 38,000 screaming Cubs fans ... even when they’re merely average, our north side foes know how to draw a crowd, especially for rivalry games like this. Cease came out strong, striking out the side in the bottom of the first, but Dansby Swanson scored from third off a sac-fly by Carson Kelly to put the Cubs on the board in the bottom of the third, up 1-0. Ian Happ hit a solo homer in the fourth to add on, but we got on the board in the top of the sixth with an RBI single by Chase Meidroth. Cease got us into the stretch still trailing just 2-1, and Cody Bellinger hit an RBI single to tie it in the top of the eighth, ensuring Cease would get no decision tonight. With the score tied 2-2, Bazardo took over in the bottom of the eighth, but a pair of singles and a wild pitch put runners on the corners with one out. With Matt Shaw coming to the plate we brought out Ryan Helsley, who struck Shaw out swinging and then got Jeimer Candelario to ground into a fielder’s choice, keeping us tied up heading into the ninth. Still tied in the bottom of the inning, former Cub Julian Merryweather came out to pitch, and he did his job, forcing this one into extra innings. Ryan Weber came out in the bottom of the 10th, Kelly on second as the pinch-runner, and all it took was a hit by Michael Busch, bouncing off the ivy at center to bring Kelly home ... Cubs win 3-2, snapping our winning streak and giving us our fourth game in a row to finish within one run. Cease pitched seven innings with three hits, four walks and 10 strikeouts, allowing just two earned runs, while Weber got dinged with the loss with a hit and an unearned run, falling to 0-1 with a 3.52 ERA. We matched them with six hits, led by Meidroth and Bellinger who each had two hits and an RBI ... but only those two and Kim managed hits, while three others had a walk each.

May 23, 2026: Nobody’s got anywhere to hide during this ten game road stretch, and we won’t have another day off until the 4th of June so careful bullpen management is going to be critical, along with getting more offense so our starters have room to breathe. Zac Gallen (5-1, 3.38 ERA, 56.0 IP, 49 K’s, 1.16 WHIP) pitched in game two against the Cubs, facing Shota Imanaga (3-4, 2.90 ERA, 62.0 IP, 57 K’s, 1.05 WHIP), with this place packed to the limit with Cubs fans. Mears got a solo homer to lead off in the top of the second, but moments later Vargas got ejected in the second inning for arging a strike call, which forced us to shuffle Bellinger to first, Mears to right field and Tauchman to left, giving up the designated hitter for the remainder of the game ... so going forward our pitcher will be seventh in the lineup. Joshua Mears hit an RBI double in the top of the sixth to buy us a little insurance, but the Cubs got on the board with an RBI double by Owen Caissie, and a two-run homer moments later by Dansby Swanson put the Cubs into the lead 3-2 as we came up to hit in the top of the seventh. Juan Alvarado took over in the bottom of the inning, and in the top of the eighth with two outs, Bellinger hit a solo bomb out of right to tie the game up at 3-3. Ryan Helsley got the ball with one out and men on second and third in the bottom of the eighth, stranding both runners with quick outs as we came up to hit in the top of the ninth. Pinch-hitter Brooks Lee singled Ceddanne Rafaela into scoring position with a single with one out against us, but we couldn’t get him around to score, so Noah Syndergaard took over hoping to push us into extras again. He pitched around two runners on base, getting Josh Rojas to hit into a 4-6-3 double play to do just that as we held on for dear life.
 
With speedster Yordys Valdes on second, Ha-seong Kim took the count to 2-2 and on a run and hit play, Valdes stole third! Kim then hit one into center, taking first and driving in the go-ahead run for us, drawing boos from the crowd. Chase Meidroth hit one into the left field corner, legging out an RBI triple, and they intentionally walked Bellinger, unintentionally walking Moore who loaded the bases with no outs. They then hit Tauchman with a pitch on one out, walking in a third run, and we went into the bottom of the 10th leading by three! Syndergaard stayed out to get us through and protect the pen, but the plan failed as Happ walked and then Matt Shaw hit a three-run homer out of left to tie it up again ... Jesus! Ben Joyce took over with no outs but clear bases, and he did the job, getting us into the 11th inning now tied up at 6-6. Yordys Valdes hit a leadoff single into right to drive in a go-ahead run in the top of the 11th, and again they loaded the bases, Meidroth beating out an infield grounder and Bellinger walking. So with one out, Mears came to the plate ... he struck out swinging, but Ceddanne Rafaela had had enough ... he power-bombed one over the right field wall, a GRAND SLAM HOMER, giving us a five-run lead heading into the bottom of the inning! Joyce got two strikeouts and a pop-fly to left to finally end this one as an 11-6 extra-innings blowout for us ... all it took was eight runs across the 10th and 11th, easy peasy, right? Joyce improved to 4-1 with a 3.95 ERA, pitching two innings with four strikeouts and nobody allowed on base. Each team had 13 hits, ours led by Rafela, who was 4-6 with a run and four RBIs thanks to his 11th inning heroics.

May 24, 2026: Sean Burke (3-2, 4.84 ERA, 35.1 IP, 36 K’s, 1.39 WHIP) pitched against Justin Steele (2-5, 5.71 ERA, 52.0 IP, 47 K’s, 1.35 WHIP) in the rubber match against the Cubs, and Burke was perfect until, with two outs in the bottom of the fourth, he plunked PCA on the elbow to put his first runner on base. We got out of the inning with the runner stranded, and it was our White Sox who broke the stalemate, when Valenzuela hit an RBI double in the top of the fifth to put us up 1-0. Jonathan Cannon took over in the bottom of the seventh, still leading by the one run, and he got us through two outs in the eighth, when Weber took over to face PCA, with Suzuki on first. Pop-fly to center, a quick and easy out for Rafaela, and we went into the top of the ninth with a chance to put it away, but we weren’t able to buy an insurance run. So Weber, who had thrown one pitch for his out in the eighth, stayed out to finish it. With two outs and Owen Caissie on third base, Michael Bush grounded out to second, and a quick throw to first base ended this one as a 1-0 win ... we got out of Chicago with a series win amid thunderous boos from Cubs fans everywhere! Sean Burke got a rare starter win for us, improving to 4-3 thanks to a hit, a walk and eight strikeouts during his six shutout innings. Cannon and Weber got through the other three innings to preserve it, as we outhit the Cubs 7-2 to hold the razor-thin margin. Tauchman led the offense with two hits and a run scored, while Valenzuela batted it in with a hit and a walk

We’ll take our 26-20 record into Detroit where a three-game series against the free-falling Tigers awaits. They’re currently 17-29, and though they’ve lost 16 games this month against just six wins, the most recent win was in their last game on the road in Pittsburgh, which took them 10 innings to win 4-3. So they’re coming into this one hoping to build momentum, and we’re looking for a chance to take control of the division now that we’re tied up with the Guardians for first place. Pinch me, I must be dreaming!

[jksander]

May 25, 2026: Drew Rasmussen (1-2, 3.61 ERA, 42.1 IP, 46 K’s, 1.25 WHIP) pitched against Detroit’s Nick Martinez (3-2, 4.27 ERA, 46.1 IP, 32 K’s, 1.21 WHIP). We took the lead in the top of the fourth with a single by Tauchman, adding on moments later with a single by Vargas to go up 2-0, and Rasmussen was as sharp as we’ve seen him all year, striking out the side in the bottom of the inning to give himself seven K’s in his first four innings. But he got in trouble quickly in the fifth, loading the bases and walking in a run with the bullpen warming -- Eduardo Bazardo came out with the bases loaded and two outs, getting Kerry Carpenter to pop out to right to end the inning with us still ahead 2-1. In the top of the seventh Valenzuela hit an RBI triple to add on, and Ha-seong Kim hit an RBI single to give us a three-run cushion as we went into the stretch ahead 4-1. Jose Alvarado took the ball with two outs and men on first and second in the bottom of the seventh, getting out of the inning with a groundout to first by Carpenter. Ryan Helsley took over in the ninth with the three-run lead still intact, and with one out he blew the shutout when pinch-hitter Thayron Liranzo hit a two-run homer out of left to get Detroit on the board. But two quick outs from there sealed it as we beat the Tigers 4-2! Bazardo got the win, improving to 3-0 with a 3.00 ERA, lasting two innings with a hit, a walk and two strikeouts, while Alvarado earned his fourth hold and Helsley took save number three. We outhit Detroit 9-3, led by Vargas and Valenzuela who each had two hits, a run and an RBI (while Vargas also had a walk).

The improbable has happened, as Cleveland took a 6-0 shutout loss in LA against the Dodgers tonight, giving us solo control over the divisional lead ... this May turnaround has been unreal for us, and we’re just doing what we can on the field to keep it going! We don’t have a ton of “personalities” on this team, but we do have strong leadership, particularly among our pitchers, with Rasmussen and Burke taking charge and keeping everyone on track.
 
May 26, 2026: Noah Schultz (2-2, 2.20 ERA, 57.1 IP, 71 K’s, 0.75 WHIP) pitched against Kris Bubic (2-6, 5.04 ERA, 44.2 IP, 39 K’s, 1.68 WHIP), and we took control quickly, thanks to an RBI double by Mears and a flyball single by Vargas to lead 2-0 midway through the first. The Tigers got on the board with a solo homer in the bottom of the inning by Spencer Torkelson, and Dillon Dingler hit a dinger to tie it up a blink of an eye later ... two quick outs and then suddenly we couldn’t buy one, until with runners on second and third, Schultz finally got Matt Vierling to ground out to first, so we could get up to hit in the second tied 2-2. But he’d thrown 31 pitches to do it, not a great sign for him to last long in this one if he stays that wild. We settled in well, though and in the top of the fourth we retook the lead on an RBI double by Kim, adding another when Kim scored a few minutes later off a wild pitch to go up 4-2. Schultz got us throgh the fifth inning just fine, and held his own through the sixth to get a quality start after the rough beginning. In the top of the seventh we added on via back-to-back sac-flies by Tauchman and Lipcius, and Alvarado took over in the bottom of the seventh, with Jonathan Cannon keeping us going in the eighth. We added on a pair in the ninth and Cannon stayed out to finish things as we shut them down 8-2. Schultz improved to 3-2 with a 2.27 ERA, allowing six hits and two runs with six strikeouts in his six innings, while we again outhit the Tigers 12-9. Vargas led our offense with three hits, a walk, a run and an RBI, while our DH Lipcius hit once for a pair of RBIs.

May 27, 2026: Dylan Cease (3-3, 2.97 ERA, 57.2 IP, 59 K’s, 1.04 WHIP) pitched against Tarik Skubal (2-4, 3.16 ERA, 62.2 IP, 73 K’s, 0.97 WHIP) in our final game of the Detroit series, and this time the Tigers took the early lead, a solo homer by Thomas in the leadoff spot giving them a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. But we tied it up in the top of the second when Lipcius grounded out to first and drove home Tauchman, and that started a back and forth battle. Detroit went back up 2-1 with a two-out RBI single from Thayron Liranzo in the bottom of the third, and they added on with an RBI single by Kerry Carpenter in the bottom of the fifth to lead 3-1. Ceddanne Rafaela got us back within a run thanks to an RBI single in the top of the sixth, and we brought out Merryweather in the bottom of the seventh, and the Tigers pounced, scoring off an RBI double by Carpenter to add on. Helsley took over in the eighth but it didn’t matter, we didn’t have the offensive firepower to get back into this one, losing to Detroit 4-2 -- we got the series win, but couldn’t quite get the sweep. Cease fell to 3-4 with a 3.11 ERA, allowing eight hits, a walk and three runs while striking out five in his six innings, and we were out hit 11-6, our offense led by Tauchman with a hit and a run, and by Rafaela with a hit and an RBI.

[jksander]

May 28, 2026: The Royals come into this series with a 22-28 record, good for fourth place in the division. Zac Gallen (5-1, 3.48 ERA, 62.0 IP, 52 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) pitched against Cole Ragans (4-4, 4.20 ERA, 55.2 IP, 61 K’s, 1.51 WHIP) in our first of four games, and in the top of the second we unleashed on them, scoring four quick runs, starting with a sac-fly by Tauchman that scored Mears, and then a two-run homer for Vargas that really got things moving! Meidroth finished it with a single to add the fourth run, giving Gallen plenty of confidence as he came back out to pitch. The Royals got going in the bottom of the third with an RBI triple by Drew Waters, adding a run with a groundout by Jace Jung. Bellinger hit an RBI single in the fourth to get momentum back in our favor, but Kansas City answered with a solo homer by Kyle Isbel in the bottom of the inning, and they got Gallen to throw way too many pitches. We went into the bottom of the fifth leading still by a 5-3 margin, but Gallen was on a short leash at 70 pitches. He got three quick outs to get us through the inning, and Bazardo took over in the bottom of the sixth, just in time for Bobby Witt Jr to hit one out of center to cut our lead to one. Merryweather got the ball in the bottom of the seventh, still leading 5-4, and Cannon took over in the eighth. Both got us through their respective innings, but our offense couldn’t buy any insurance runs. Cannon stayed out in the ninth and handled business, though, and we won 5-4. Gallen is now 2-0 since coming to Chicago, pitching five innings today with five hits, four strikeouts and three earned runs, while Cannon earned his first save in a two-inning three strikeout effort. We outhit Kansas City 11-6, led by Vargas who had two hits, a run and two RBIs, including his eighth homer of the season.

May 29, 2026: Sean Burke (4-2, 4.14 ERA, 41.1 IP, 44 K’s, 1.23 WHIP) pitched against Sammy Gray (3-2, 2.42 ERA, 48.1 IP, 54 K’s, 0.87 WHIP) and the Royals broke through in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run blast by Mickey Gasper to take the lead. We got on the board in the top of the sixth when Ha-seong Kim stole third, and then, thanks to an E2 error, came in to score. A moment later we tied it up on a wild pitch, and Jonathan Cannon took over in the bottom of the inning, getting three quick outs to keep us right there in this one. Ryan Helsley came out to pitch in the bottom of the seventh, and Ben Joyce took over in the eighth still tied up at 2-2. But he did not handle the pressure well, loading the bases and giving up a two-run single to Mickey Gasper as the Royals took control. Alvarado took over, two on and one out, giving up one of Joyce’s baserunners as we got into the top of the ninth lagging by three runs. We took this one on the chin, losing 5-2 as the Royals evened things in the series with two games remaining. Joyce took the loss, falling to 4-2 with a 5.79 ERA with two hits, two walks and three runs in his one-third of an inning, Kansas City outhitting us 7-4. Yordys Valdes led our meager offense tonight with two hits and a run scored.
 
May 30, 2026: Drew Rasmussen (1-2, 3.45 ERA, 47.0 IP, 53 K’s, 1.26 WHIP) pitched against KC’s Shane Bieber (1-5, 4.78 ERA, 52.2 IP, 47 K’s, 1.63 WHIP) in game three, and Ceddanne Rafaela got us quickly on the board in the top of the first with a two-run double! Rasmussen pitched seven shutout innings as we held to that early lead, and Noah Syndergaard took over in the top of the eighth, but with two outs in the bottom of the ninth he blew it when Michael Massey hit a two-run slam out of right to tie it up. Ben Joyce took over and got Blake Mitchell to strike out, but just like that this one we’d led through 26 batters was now going into extra innings. They wound up walking it off in the bottom of the 10th when Mickey Gasper hit into a fielder’s choice, as we failed to keep the ghost runner from scoring, giving Kansas City a 3-2 win we’d been inches away from earning ourselves in the ninth. Joyce took back to back losses, falling to 4-3 with a 5.52 ERA, with a walk and a strikeout to go with the unearned run ... we’d outhit Kansas City 6-5, led by Rafaela who had three hits and two RBIs.

May 31, 2026: It’s hard to believe, but this is our first two-game losing streak since the beginning of the month. Tonight’s our final game of the four-game set in Kansas City, with Noah Schultz (3-2, 2.27 ERA, 63.1 IP, 77 K’s, 0.77 WHIP) facing off against Seth Lugo (3-3, 4.38 ERA, 61.2 IP, 57 K’s, 1.41 WHIP). It was blustery and with a heavy threat of rain, so we wanted to start this one off quickly. But instead the Royals got the first punch to land when Blake Mitchell hit a solo homer with two outs in the bottom of the second to put the Royals on top. Nobody was really getting anything going offensively though, with the exception of that dinger ... in the top of the seventh Miguel Vargas led off with a double, just our second hit of the game, and he advanced to third off a groundout by Tauchman, as Lugo neared triple digit pitches. That’s when we hit ‘em, Vargas scoring off a groundball double into left by Valenzuela, tying the score and leading the Royals to go to the pen. Alas, we weren’t able to get the lead, heading into the stretch locked in a 1-1 battle with our division rivals. We trusted our young ace and Schultz delivered, getting through the bottom of the inning with a pair of key strikeouts, his first time going this deep into a game ... and at just 80 pitches, we let him stay out in the eighth as well, shutting them down to keep our bullpen fresh in a tightly contested defensive battle. In the top of the ninth, with one out, Mike Tauchman hit a double into left to get into scoring position, advancing to third on a groundout by Valenzuela. They walked Lipcius, at which point we brought out Brooks Lee to replace Yordys Valdes, and he walked the bases loaded with Ha-seong Kim coming up to the plate ... but he struck out swinging and we went into the bottom of the inning hoping to hold them off into extras. Merryweather took the ball from Schultz to pitch in the bottom of the ninth, and he did the job with three quick outs that sent us into the 10th. Chase Meidroth led off with a double into center-left, scoring the go-ahead run, and they intentionally walked Bellinger, but with one out Vargas hit another shot into center, driving Meidroth home to add on, pushing Bellinger into scoring position at second! Tauchman reached first on a fielder’s choice that sent Bellinger to third, and Valenzuela grounded out to send us into the bottom of the inning leading 3-1. Ryan Helsley took over in the bottom of the inning, getting a quick out before a double by Yunior Severino got the Royals back within a run. With two outs they tied it with a single by Bobby Witt Jr, but Bazardo came out to strike out Nick Loftin, getting us another chance as the game went into the 11th inning. Brooks Lee hit a one-out double into left to put us back into the lead in the top of the inning, but that was all we got ... Jose Alvarado took the ball in the bottom of the inning and with two outs they tied it AGAIN with a single by Drew Waters. They then finished us off as Severino walked it off with a sac-fly into center, giving Kansas City its third win in a row, this time by a 5-4 margin. We outhit them 7-5, but couldn’t string hits together enough to really put them away when we had a chance ... Alvarado blew his second save and fell to 2-1 with a 4.91 ERA, allowing a hit, two walks and two runs (one earned) while Vargas led our offense, hitting twice and walking once with a run and an RBI.

The loss dropped us to 29-24 heading into the month of June, and in a tight race in the Central we remain on top by one game over the 28-25 Twins, with Cleveland (28-26) a game and a half back. And the Royals, by beating us three times, got themselves back into contention as well ... at 25-29 they’re still 4.5 games back, but they exploited our weakness and ensured that this division is entirely up for grabs as the summer heats up.

[jksander]

We’ll play 13 home games against 12 road games in June, opening with home series against San Diego (20-33, 5th NL West) and Seattle (32-20, 1st AL West) this week in Chicago. We then play three at Tampa (26-26, 4th AL East) before returning to Rate Field for three against the Angels (24-29, 4th AL West) and three agianst the Cubs (25-28, 3rd NL Central). We then have road trips to face Tampa again, along with the Dodgers (37-16, 1st NL West) and Astros (25-29, 3rd Al West), and then play the first game of a three-game set against the Yankees (30-23, 2nd AL East) here at home that will get us into July.

[jksander]

June 1, 2026: Dylan Cease (3-4, 3.11 ERA, 63.2 IP, 64 K’s, 1.08 WHIP) pitched in our first of three home games against the Padres, facing Gabriel Hughes (1-5, 4.68 ERA, 42.1 IP, 36 K’s, 1.44 WHIP). And the Padres struck quickly, Giancarlo Stanton hitting a two-runner out of left to put them up 2-0 with one out in the top of the first. Andre Lipcius got us on the board with an RBI single in the bottom of the second, but with two outs in the top of the third Jackson Merrill hit a solo shot out of right to get the Padres to 3-1. Cody Bellinger then tied the game on a two-run slam out of center in the bottom of the inning, and this was setting up to be a good hitting night for everyone. Cease loaded the bases in the top of the fourth but escaped without damage ... but the fifth started poorly as well, and with no outs and men on first and second we brought out Ryan Weber to take over. That’s when we fell apart completely. Two runs had already scored for the Padres as we notched a pair of outs, but when Trevor Larnach hit a three-run homer out of center we were toast. By the time Weber got us out of the inning we were down 8-3 and he’d only thrown 24 pitches while allowing three hits and three runs himself.

Yordys Valdes got us two runs back in the bottom of the inning, with a two-run homer of his own, and Jonathan Cannon took the ball in the sixth, and the Padres added a run in the seventh off a homer by Thairo Estrada, though we got it back in the bottom of the inning off a sac-fly by Bellinger to stay within three. A solo homer by Lipcius got us within two in the bottom of the eighth, and in the bottom of the ninth we managed to load the bases with two outs, as they brought out Tyler Megill to face Miguel Vargas. Vargas took the count full, then hit one over the head of their second baseman, driving in a pair to tie this sucker up at 9-9! Unbelievable ... Lipcius walked the bases loaded, bringing up Gary Sanchez, who we replaced with pinch-hitter and catcher sub Brandon Valenzuela hoping to walk this thing off and avoid extras ... and he did just that, walking in the winning run as we stole this one from the Padres 10-9! Syndergaard took the win, improving to 3-2 with a 7.81 ERA, and Cease owes him a beer or two ... the starter had lasted just four innings and allowed three hits, six walks and five earned runs with seven strikeouts to dig us our initial hole. We were outhit 9-8, but the Padres walked us 11 times, and Bellinger had a good swing tonight, hitting twice and walking once for two runs and three RBIs. Lipcius added two hits, a walk, a run and two RBIs, while Vargas had two hits and two RBIs as well.

- - - - -

CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 6/2/26 ... p.A1
Jerry Reinsdorf, Controversial White Sox Owner, Dead at 90

CHICAGO, Ill. -- White Sox sources and family of the legendary, yet controversial White Sox owner have confirmed that Jerry Reinsdorf died last night in his home at age 90. His tenure marked by controversies as well as by the World Series win in 2005 that snapped an 88-season drought, nobody will say the man was not true to himself. During his ownership of the team, Reinsdorf was known for his frugal approach to managing both the White Sox and the Bulls, often frustrating players, staff and fans due to his extreme cost-cutting measures and brash nature.

Reinsdorf’s legacy is complex, with critics remembering his history of breaking backroom deals, while his supporters remember the championships. His impact on Chicago is undeniable, but the fact that he’s left the team in the hands of private equity investor Justin Ishbia has left many in the community with serious doubts, particularly as Reinsdorf had frequently encouraged whoever took over for him after his death to sell his interests in the White Sox.

In particular, Ishbia’s background as a private equity investor and owner of multiple teams including the Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury and the Nashville FC across the NBA, WNBA and Major League Soccer has raised concerns as to whether he’ll pursue selling the team or prefer to micromanage the organization like a member of Shark Tank. Futhermore, Ishbia’s relatively short tenure as a sports team owner has many questioning his long-term commitment to our city.

Ishbia has, for now, expressed his commitment to the team and the city of Chicago, stating that he intends to work closely with the current front office to build on the team’s recent success and bring another championship home. But actions will speak louder than words, and only time will show how the team’s new ownership will affect the product on the field, for better or worse.

[jksander]

June 2, 2026: The atmosphere was muted as Zac Gallen (6-1, 3.63 ERA, 67.0 IP, 56 K’s, 1.18 WHIP) got the ball to start the game this evening, facing San Diego’s Troy Melton (1-4, 5.36 ERA, 43.2 IP, 34 K’s, 1.44 WHIP), as everyone in the stadium seemed to be talking about the death of our owner and the affect it could have on our chances of staying on our current improved run. Joshua Mears got us the lead with a groundout in the bottom of the first, and Valenzuela hit one in the bottom of the fourth to add on. Moments later Brooks Lee hit a two-run blast out of center, giving us a commanding 4-0 lead, giving Gallen plenty of room to maneuver as we went into the top of the fifth. We added a run in the bottom of the fifth, and with a six-run lead going into the top of the ninth we finally pulled Gallen for Jonathan Cannon. With one out he blew the shutout, letting Fernando Tatis Jr hit a solo homer out of center, but we still won with ease, beating the Padres 6-1. Gallen won his third game in a row as a White Sox ace, allowing just two hits, a walk and six strikeouts in his eight shutout innings. We outslugged them 14-3, led by Ha-Seong Kim who had three hits, a run and an RBI while Gary Sanchez added two hits, a walk and two runs.

June 3, 2026: We’re sending Heston Kjerstad to the minors for a rehab assignment as he recovers from knee tendinitis. We’re hoping to have him back within a week if his knee holds up. This evening we dealt with our third and final game of the series against the Padres, with Sean Burke (4-2, 4.08 ERA, 46.1 IP, 50 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) pitching against Lance McCullers Jr (2-3, 4.05 ERA, 53.1 IP, 59 K’s, 1.31 WHIP). San Diego went up in the top of the first thanks to an RBI single by Tyler Nevin, and Luis Robert Jr walked in a run with the bases loaded to add on in the top of the third. They increased the margin to 3-0 by the middle of the fourth inning thanks to an RBI single by Jose Barrero, and we FINALLY got on the board with a sac-fly by Lenyn Sosa to put us on the board trailing 3-1 after five innings. Eduard Bazardo took over with one out and a man on first in the top of the sixth, getting out of that inning with a quick bang-bang 6-4-3 double play, and he got through the seventh as well, pitching around a two-out triple by Xander Boegarts to keep us in the game. Alvarado came out for the eighth still trailing by a pair, getting three quick outs including a pair of K’s as we kept hoping our bats would find some spark. Helsley did the same in the top of the ninth, and with one out in the bottom of the inning Tauchman got on base with a line-drive double into right. Brandon Valenzuela then reached first on an E4 errror, taking second as Tauchman came around to score, pulling us within a run! That’s when Lipcius hit one right up the middle into center field, driving home Valenzuela to tie the game at 3-3 and forcing this one into extra innings! Helsley got three quick outs to shut them down in the top of the 10th, and Miguel Vargas quickly hit a single that drove Yordys Valdes to third! That’s when Ceddanne Rafaela, with one out, walked it off with a single into left, giving us a come-from-behind 4-3 victory and the sweep! Helsley improved to 2-2 with a 3.90 ERA, pitching two innings tonight with a hit and two strikeouts, getting us the win in the 10th. We matched them on hits with nine, led by Rafaela who walked it off in the end ... he had three hits but that was his only run, exactly when we needed it.

The win improves our record to 32-24, putting us at eight games above .500 with our off day at long last to rest and regenerate some energy. Seattle is coming to town for a three-game weekend series, and the 35-20 Mariners are certainly no team to take lightly. Right now we hold a 3.5 game lead over the Guardians for first place in the Central, but the race has tightened as Kansas City, on a six-game winning streak, is now just one game under .500 ... so four of the five teams in our division are now within 4.5 games of each other AND all playing well, and even the last-place Tigers (24-32) are 7-3 in their last ten. So there’s no room for anyone to let up, or it can become a fast fall to the bottom.

[jksander]

June 5, 2026: For the first time in years a sellout crowd showed up today to watch Drew Rasmussen (1-2, 3.00 ERA, 54.0 IP, 59 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) pitch against Seattle’s Domingo German (2-4, 4.17 ERA, 54.0 IP, 47 K’s, 1.28 WHIP). Chase Meidroth hit a solo homer, hist first of the year, in the bottom of the first to put us on top, but he didn’t have a lot of room for error as we fought our way through the first five innings. Julian Merryweather took the ball in the top of the sixth, still leading 1-0, and in the bottom of the inning we added on a run with a double by Miguel Vargas, and Brandon Valenzuela put up an RBI single to give us a 3-0 cushion. Merryweather got us into the stretch, Bazardo taking over in the eighth inning, and with the score unchanged we brought out Ben Joyce in the ninth ... with one out, a solo bomb out of right by Kyle Schwarber blew the shutout, but we pitched around runners on first and second to get the 3-1 victory. Rasmussen lasted five innings with two hits, two walks and five strikeouts, improving to 2-2 with a 2.75 ERA, while Merryweather earned his fifth hold with a two-inning three strikeout effort, improving his ERA to 2.73. Bazardo had his sixth hold and Joyce his sixth save, our boys outhitting theirs 12-4 thanks to three hits, a run and an RBI for Meidroth.
 
June 6, 2026: Noah Schultz (3-2, 2.14 ERA, 71.1 IP, 86 K’s, 0.73 WHIP) pitched against George Kirby (4-2, 4.84 ERA, 57.2 IP, 66 K’s, 1.32 WHIP) in game two against the Mariners, and Schultz had an amazing game, but our bats didn’t give him ANY support and the Mariners pounced in the top of the sixth, a two-run homer by Schwarber putting them up 2-0. Jose Alvarado took over in the top of the seventh, trailing still by two runs, and Ryan Helsley took over in the eighth. All three pitchers did their jobs, but our offense let them down in a HUGE way, as we lost this one 2-0, holding them to five hits while only putting up five of our own. What a missed opportunity! Schultz allowed all five hits, but walked nobody and struck out 10 batters, taking a loss while throwing 94 pitches, and our two bullpen arms combined for a walk and four strikeouts as they did everything but take the plate appearances for our batters. The only offensive player to get on base twice was Tauchman, and he did both by walking.

June 7, 2026: Today begins the draft combine, and we’ve added a couple dozen players to our watchlist, most of them high potential collegiate athletes. I’m letting our scouts do their jobs from here, and will check back in closer to the draft as we put our official board together. But the goal is to have these collegiate players seeing us as a great destination, and we can pick up any high school guys on the fly when the draft actually happens.

Dylan Cease (3-4, 3.59 ERA, 67.2 IP, 71 K’s, 1.15 WHIP) pitched against Jackson Rose (4-3, 4.20 ERA, 60.0 IP, 53 K’s, 1.22 WHIP) in game three against the Mariners, and our inability to hit reached stress-inducing levels, as Dylan Cease pitched incredibly well and yet we couldn’t seem to get anyone across. He got us into the stretch still knotted at zero-all, and Jonathan Cannon had to take over in the eighth as suddenly we were pathologically unable to drive a run in -- nineteen consecutive innings since we last scored in the sixth inning of game one. Cannon got us through the ninth without letting them take the lead, but our bats had shown no more likelihood to that point that they could break through either, so everyone in the crowd and our dugout were on high alert. Chase Meidroth took a leadoff walk, and Cody Bellinger hit one HARD into right ... we thought it was over the wall, but Lazaro Montes made a leaping catch and kept it for himself. Two strikeouts later we were destined to go into the 10th inning with no score. Jesus H. Christ ... Alvarado came in to pitch for us as this brutal duel continued, with us having outhit them 4-3 in the first nine futile innings. He struck out the side, and we went into the bottom of the inning with Ceddanne Rafaela, one of our fastest runners, on second base. With one out, Miguel Vargas took full advantage of that by hitting a fastball up the middle and into the outfield, giving Rafaela just enough room to come around and score the winning run as we took this one 1-0 in 10 innings, snapping our scoreless innings streak at 20. Dylan Cease had seven innings with two hits, four walks and 10 strikeouts, and Cannon added two innings with a hit, a walk and two strikeouts. But it was Alvarado who completed the shutout and got the win, improving to 3-1 with a 4.32 ERA thanks to three strikeouts in his inning. We outhit them 5-3, led by Vargas who had a hit, a walk and the game-winning RBI.

We get another off day tomorrow and then hit the road for three games against Tampa (27-31, 5th AL East), before returning to Chicago for three versus the Angels (28-31, 3rd AL West) and three against the Cubs (28-32, 3rd NL Central). We’re currently 34-25 and lead the AL Central by 3.5 games over the 31-29 Guardians, and we’re ranked 6th in the most recent power rankings that came out this morning, as the hottest team outside Baltimore and Philly, who are on four and nine game winning streaks respectively.