With just one week remaining in the 2024 Major League Baseball season, the Chicago White Sox are on the brink of setting an undesirable record, poised to finish with the worst record in modern baseball history. With a current standing of 36-120, the White Sox have already matched the 1962 New York Mets' infamous 120-loss season.
As the season winds down, the White Sox have six games left to potentially break this notorious record. The team's offensive performance has been lackluster at best, with a collective batting line of .220/.278/.339, significantly below the league-average slash line of .244/.312/.400. This subpar performance is further underscored by their 76 OPS+, indicating the team is 24% behind the league average in getting on base and hitting for power.
The team’s struggles are evident in their power numbers, hitting a league-low 127 home runs throughout the season. Not a single player on the roster has hit more than 20 home runs, a stark contrast to baseball’s heavy hitters. On average, the White Sox have managed just 3.07 runs per game, the lowest in the league. By comparison, the Rays, ranked 29th, are scoring 3.78 runs per game.
Defensively, the White Sox have also found themselves at the bottom of the rankings with -83 total zone runs, a metric that measures fielding performance. The closest team to this record of futility is the Marlins with -53 total zone runs. Conversely, the Brewers and Mariners lead the league in this category with 46 total zone runs.
The struggles extend to the road, where the White Sox have posted a 16-62 record, the worst in the league. Their home performance fares no better with a 20-58 record. Both marks are unfortunate milestones for the franchise, which had never previously lost more than 55 games on the road or 53 at home in a single season.
Among individual performances, Andrew Vaughn stands out leading the team in both RBIs (67) and runs (54), but he ranks a disappointing 103rd out of 130 qualifying players in OPS. Erick Fedde, the team’s leader in Wins Above Replacement (WAR), has not taken the mound since July 27, perhaps contributing to their overall disastrous season. The team’s cumulative WAR, as calculated by FanGraphs, stands at -6.8, making them the only team in the league with a negative figure. By contrast, the Rockies, ranked 29th in this measure, have a positive 4.1 WAR.
The season has been punctuated by several lengthy slumps. The White Sox have endured losing streaks of 21, 14, and 12 games, with additional streaks of seven, six, and two stretches of five games. One of these five-game losing streaks remains active. Prior to this season, the team had experienced losing streaks of 12 games or more only three times in its history – in 1924, 1927, and 1967.
The post-All-Star break period has been especially brutal for the White Sox, who have gone 9-49 since then. No MLB team has ever won fewer than 15 games in a full second half; the current record holder is the A's, who managed just 15-61 in both 1915 and 1943. The White Sox’s best months came in May and June, where they posted identical 9-19 records. Their performance in July, however, was their worst, finishing 3-22.
Despite the overwhelming negatives, there have been rare glimpses of success. The White Sox have managed winning records against just five teams: the Braves (2-1), Rockies (2-1), Cardinals (2-1), Rays (4-2), and Nationals (2-1). However, their performance against the rest of the American League Central has been abysmal, with a 12-41 record.
In summary, the 2024 season has been a historical low for the Chicago White Sox, setting new benchmarks for futility and inefficiency. The coming games will determine if they secure the dubious honor of the worst record in modern baseball history, eclipsing the infamous 1962 Mets.