The Chicago White Sox are on the brink of a dubious historic milestone as the 2024 Major League Baseball season winds down. With just one week remaining, the White Sox are perilously close to securing the worst record in modern baseball history. Currently standing at 36-120, they have already matched the infamy of the 1962 New York Mets with 120 losses and have six games left to play.
The statistics tell a grim tale. Offensively, the team’s slash line of .220/.278/.339 falls far short of the league-average .244/.312/.400, highlighting their struggles at the plate. Their OPS+ stands at a meager 76, indicating they are 24% below league average in terms of on-base percentage and slugging. The White Sox have hit just 127 home runs all season, the fewest in the league, and shockingly, not a single player has reached the 20-home run mark. This offensive futility is further underscored by their average of just 3.07 runs per game, the lowest in MLB. In comparison, the Tampa Bay Rays, who are second to last, average 3.78 runs per game.
The team's overall performance has been catastrophic. They have been outscored 799-479, resulting in a staggering -320 run differential. Andrew Vaughn has been a rare bright spot, leading the team in both RBIs (67) and runs (54), but even he ranks just 103rd out of 130 qualifying players in OPS for the batting title. The defensive side has been just as dismal, with the White Sox posting a league-worst -83 total zone runs. The Miami Marlins, next to last, have -53 total zone runs, while the league leaders, the Brewers and Mariners, are tied with 46.
The pitching staff hasn’t fared any better. Erick Fedde, the team's leader in Wins Above Replacement (WAR), hasn't pitched since July 27. The collective team performance in FanGraphs' version of WAR is an abysmal -6.8, making them the only team with a negative figure in the league. The Colorado Rockies, 29th in this metric, are at a positive 4.1. The White Sox's road record also tells a discouraging story at 16-62, the worst in MLB, with the Rockies next at 24 wins. Their home record of 20-58 is again the lowest, with the Marlins' 30-51 record coming in second-worst.
The 2024 season has been punctuated by a series of lengthy losing streaks. The White Sox had three significant slumps of 21, 14, and 12 consecutive losses. Additional losing streaks of seven, six, and two spells of five games each have further marred their season, with one five-game streak still active. Historically, the last time they endured such long losing streaks was in the 1920s and 1967. Since the All-Star break, the White Sox are 9-49, and no team has ever won fewer than 15 games in a full second half, a record currently held by the Athletics, who went 15-61 in 1915 and 1943.
The White Sox’s 'best' months were May and June, each marked by a 9-19 record. July was their worst, with a 3-22 tally. Despite the overall disastrous season, they managed winning records against five teams: the Braves, Rockies, Cardinals, Rays, and Nationals. However, within their division, the AL Central, they hold a dismal 12-41 record.
This season's performance is unprecedented in the annals of the White Sox's history. Before 2024, they had never lost more than 55 road games or 53 home games in a single season. The dismal statistics and historic lows affirm that the 2024 season is the worst in Major League Baseball history for the Chicago White Sox.
As the remaining games play out, the White Sox face the potential of setting an unenviable new low in modern baseball records—a feat no team aims to achieve but one that may indeed be inevitable for the storied franchise. This season will be remembered not for any on-field triumphs but for the statistical quagmire that underscores a historically poor performance.