With just one week remaining in the 2024 Major League Baseball season, the Chicago White Sox stand on the brink of infamy. At 36-120, the team has tied the record held by the 1962 New York Mets for the most losses in modern baseball history with 120. With six games left to play, the White Sox are in peril of setting a new low.
Throughout the season, the White Sox's offensive struggles have been glaring. Their collective batting average stands at .220, significantly below the league average of .244. Equally troubling is their on-base percentage (OBP) of .278 and slugging percentage (SLG) of .339, which lag well behind the league averages of .312 and .400, respectively.
Indeed, the team’s meager performance at the plate is underscored by an OPS+ of 76, meaning they have been 24% worse than the league average in terms of getting on base and hitting for power. The team has hit only 127 home runs, the fewest in the league, and not a single player has managed to reach the 20-home run mark. This has reflected in their average of just 3.07 runs per game, the lowest in MLB. Comparatively, the second-worst team, the Tampa Bay Rays, have averaged 3.78 runs per game.
The White Sox's dismal offensive year is matched by their defensive inadequacies. They have recorded -83 total zone runs, making them the worst defensive team in the league. The next worse team, the Miami Marlins, have -53 total zone runs. In stark contrast, the Milwaukee Brewers and Seattle Mariners lead the league with 46 total zone runs each.
On the pitching front, the team hasn't fared much better. Their best player by Wins Above Replacement (WAR), Erick Fedde, has been sidelined since July 27. The collective WAR for the White Sox, according to FanGraphs, is an unprecedented -6.8, making them the only team with a negative figure. The Colorado Rockies, ranked just above them, have a positive WAR of 4.1.
The White Sox's record on the road is historically bad. Their 16-62 road record is the worst in the league, followed by the Rockies with 24 wins. At home, the White Sox are 20-58, again the worst in the league. The Marlins, next in line, have a 30-51 home record. Before this season, the White Sox had never lost more than 55 road games or 53 home games in a single season.
The season has been marred by a series of extended slumps. The White Sox endured losing streaks of 21, 14, and 12 consecutive games, as well as additional streaks of seven, six, and two separate five-game slides, one of which is still active. For context, the team had only seen losing streaks of 12 or more games three times in their history—1924, 1927, and 1967.
Since the All-Star break, the White Sox hold a 9-49 record. No team has ever won fewer than 15 games in a full second half of the season, a dubious record held by the A's, who went 15-61 in both 1915 and 1943.
Even in the context of an abysmal year, July stands out as the nadir, with a 3-22 record. May and June, by contrast, were comparatively better but still terrible at 9-19 each. The White Sox managed winning records against just five teams: Braves (2-1), Rockies (2-1), Cardinals (2-1), Rays (4-2), and Nationals (2-1). Against their AL Central rivals, the White Sox are a woeful 12-41.
Andrew Vaughn has been a rare bright spot, leading the team in both RBIs and runs with 67 and 54, respectively. However, he ranks just 103rd out of 130 qualifying players in OPS for the batting title, an indicator of the team's broader offensive struggles.
As the season draws to a close, the 2024 campaign will likely be remembered as the worst in Major League Baseball history for the Chicago White Sox. With six games left, the franchise is on the verge of etching its name into the record books for all the wrong reasons.