From July 2023 to April 2025, the White Sox went nearly two calendar years without more than 10 wins in a month, so finishing May with an otherwise unremarkable 11-17 record is one thing the Sox have going for them in the Will Venable administration. If nothing else, it's a stark reminder of how long the White Sox have been wandering:
- July 2023: 7-16
- Aug. 2023: 10-17
- Sept. 2023: 8-20
- April 2024: 6-24
- May 2024: 9-19
- June 2024: 9-19
- July 2024: 3-22
- Aug. 2024: 4-22
- Sept. 2024: 10-15
- April 2024: 7-23
That's a 44-win pace over a very large sample, so playing 63-win baseball for a month is both a massive departure, and a sign of how low the bar for acceptable baseball has been buried.
There's progress on the pitching side, especially with regards to the rotation, but dissatisfaction is rampant elsewhere. The White Sox posted the second-lowest OPS and scored the third-fewest runs in May, the bullpen hierarchy remains convoluted, the defense took a step back, and you can sense the unease by the way the front office is still burning through all remotely feasible options. The White Sox used eight entirely new players in May after 20 new players in April. That runs their total through 28, or two more than the White Sox debuted over the first two months of 2024.
Reading these Months in a Box will be necessary for any hope of a respectable score in the season-ending Sporcles. Here's the latest one to burn into your brain.
WHITE SOX TEAM PERFORMANCE
- Record: 11-17
- Standings: Fifth, 19½ GB
- Longest winning streak: 3, May 11-14
- Longest losing streak: 5, May 15-19
- Largest margin of victory: 8, May 1
- Largest margin of defeat: 10, May 8 and May 16
HITTING LEADERS
- Batting average: .292, Lenyn Sosa
- On-base percentage: .349, Chase Meidroth
- Slugging percentage: .566, Miguel Vargas
- wRC+: 150, Vargas
- Home runs: 7, Vargas
- RBI: 17, Vargas
- Walks: 11, Meidroth
- Strikeouts: 29, Luis Robert Jr.
- Stolen bases: 9, Robert
- fWAR: 0.9, Vargas
PITCHING LEADERS
- Wins: 3, Mike Vasil
- Losses: 3, Davis Martin and Jonathan Cannon
- ERA: 2.73, Sean Burke
- Innings: 35⅓, Martin
- Strikeouts: 28, Shane Smith
- Appearances: 13, Brandon Eisert
- Relief innings: 18, Vasil
- fWAR: 0.7, Cannon
COMING AND GOING
- White Sox debuts: Caleb Freeman, Josh Rojas, Tim Elko, Yoendrys Gómez, Vinny Capra, Miguel Castro, Adrian Houser, Dan Altavilla
- White Sox departures: Bobby Dalbec, Greg Jones, Gage Workman, Matt Thaiss
- Going up: Freeman, Tyler Gilbert, Elko, Jared Shuster, Altavilla
- Going down: Penn Murfee, Nick Maton, Shuster, Jake Amaya, Brooks Baldwin, Gómez, Elko, Andrew Vaughn
#SOXMORGUE
- Gage Workman: Right hip flexor
- Fraser Ellard: Left lat strain
- Andrew Benintendi: Left calf strain
- Tyler Gilbert: Sprained left MCL
- Miguel Castro: Patellar tendon tear in right knee
White Sox Honors
Most Valuable Player: Miguel Vargas
All it took for Vargas to resemble the hitter that was projected during his days as a Dodgers prospect was a simple adjustment to his hand setup. Well, that and a whole bunch of other changes to his physical being and mental outlook that put him in a position to catch up to velocity and let his above-average pitch recognition take care of stuff that's slower and lower. He hit .263/.333/.566 during the month, and he looks comfortable being the hitter teams have to plan around, and letting his personality come out.
Least Valuable Player: Brooks Baldwin
Under the louder, more inexplicable struggles of previously proven hitters like Luis Robert Jr. and Andrew Vaughn, Baldwin's offensive profile took on water. He hit just .170/.231/.213 with 14 strikeouts and four double plays. But he played in all 17 games while struggling, so he never got a breather before being optioned. Just like Venable constantly running him out to his weakest defensive positions, it's another case of Baldwin's versatility being used against him.
Most Valuable Pitcher: Sean Burke
My first instinct was to give this to Adrian Houser for showing up out of nowhere -- OK, Triple-A Round Rock, but not from within the organization -- and throwing 12 scoreless innings, but that'd be a disservice to Burke. Despite a mid-month lapse in control, he recovered to throw four quality starts in six outings, and even one of his wonky starts only resulted in one run allowed over four innings. The Sox went 3-3 with him on the mound, which is sometimes luck, but not here. They could've been 5-1.
Least Valuable Pitcher: Bryse Wilson
Wilson had a chance to secure a spot in the rotation after the injury to Martín Perez, but allowing 16 runs over 21 innings inspired the White Sox to look elsewhere. All's well that ends well, though, because Houser is an upgrade over Wilson, and Wilson's best chance of contributing comes in the swingman role.
Fire Man: Mike Vasil
He didn't earn this honor through the traditional path of excelling in high-leverage relief work, but Vasil carved his own path with three victories in long relief, along with a save against Cincinnati in his first ninth-inning opportunity. The peripherals are still sketchy, and a blown lead against Seattle in the eighth inning on May 21 shows why the Sox will probably keep him in the middle innings unless their options are limited, but any Rule 5 pick who isn't compromising a bullpen is succeeding by default, and Vasil is clearing that bar by plenty.
Gas Can: Miguel Castro
This feels like adding insult to injury, but had Castro not torn the patellar tendon in his right knee on May 28, it'd still be hard to get a sense of where he'd fit into the White Sox's bullpen plans. Thanks to persistent control issues, he didn't work a clean 1-2-3 inning in six chances.
Bench Player: Matt Thaiss
It would've been fascinating to see how much longer he could continue his disproportionately walk-heavy performance, but his .216/.370/.216 line, paired with acceptable catcher defense, was good enough to get traded to the Tampa Bay Rays at the end of the month.
Stench Player: Michael A. Taylor
The White Sox are still in the weird situation where everybody is either playing like an everyday player or being cycled through rapidly, leaving precious few players with a reserve's typical body of work. Taylor is a more useful MLB player than Jake Amaya or Vinny Capra, but he struck out in 28 of 54 plate appearances, so that's what we have to work with.
Gold Glove: Chase Meidroth (at shortstop)
The parenthetical distinction is important because the pop-up that Meidroth disastrously misplayed occurred when he was playing second base. At shortstop, he's committed just one error over 34 games, and he's grading out positively in both Defensive Runs Saved (+2) and Outs Above Average (+3). Considering that he wasn't even sold on his comfort at the position, it's a huge development for the future of the team's infield plans.
Hands of Stone: Joshua Palacios
There's room for vigorous debate here, as the White Sox had plenty of regular contributors to some ugly defensive games (Baldwin in the outfield, Vargas with four errors at third base, Josh Rojas with surprisingly unsteady play, Edgar Quero with receiving issues). Palacios had major problems with the wind at Wrigley and dropped a fly ball against Texas, resulting in unmade plays that his bat can't support.
Timeline
Peaking early: Luis Robert Jr. robs Rhys Hoskins of a potential grand slam in the first inning, then drives in four runs himself as the White Sox open the month with an 8-0 victory over Milwaukee. (May 1)
Another rain rescue: The White Sox pick up their second series victory of the season in 11 chances, mostly because the rain starts falling the inning after taking a 5-4 lead against Houston, and it's called after 6½ innings. (May 3)
Doink: The White Sox's attempt to end an eight-game losing streak at Kauffman Stadium turns into the most embarrassing collapse of the season, starting with a pop fly that hit Chase Meidroth in the head. (May 6)
Swept again: The White Sox end up running their Kansas City losing streak to 10 games (and counting) with a 10-0 loss to the Royals. Jake Amaya closes it out on the mound. (May 8)
A new most famous Sox fan: Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost is elected pope, becoming the first American-born leader in the history of the Catholic Church. While the Cubs made a bid to establish Cubs fan canon, his brother tells local media outlets that the newly installed Pope Leo XIV has always rooted for the White Sox. (May 8)
Elkoholics rejoice: With Andrew Vaughn struggling, the White Sox make their first real stab at the status quo by calling up Tim Elko to compete for playing time at first base. (May 9)
A real save: In the 41st game of the season, Cam Booser records the White Sox's second save of 2025, and the first one that everybody realizes is a save situation in real time. Elko's first hit -- a game-breaking three-run homer -- sets it up. (May 11)
Laundered Sox: As a way to make it not all about Pete Rose, Commissioner Rob Manfred removes the Black Sox from Major League Baseball's permanently ineligible list. The most notable consequence is that Shoeless Joe Jackson will now be eligible for Hall of Fame consideration. (May 13)
Ruining Pete Rose Day: The White Sox disappoint a capacity crowd at Great American Ballpark with a 4-2 victory that Mike Vasil closes out for the team's third save of the season. (May 14)
He's back: Rick Hahn surfaces on MLB Network for a segment with Brian Kenny with his first public comments on how the White Sox went wrong since he was fired in August 2023. It's nothing particularly enlightening, but he's been a recurring guest since. (May 14)
Jobs program: How open is the White Sox bullpen? It's so open that they're trading for other teams' best available Triple-A relievers and installing them on the major league roster, as evidenced by the Sox sending international pool money to Houston for 30-year-old Miguel Castro. (May 16)
Arriving by himself: In the first Crosstown game of the year, Miguel Vargas goes 4-for-4 with a pair of homers, driving in all three White Sox runs in a ... 13-3 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field. (May 16)
Unfriendly confines: The White Sox are swept in three games at Wrigley Field, and Miguel Vargas takes umbrage with a Brad Keller plunking, assuming it's retribution for his strong weekend at the plate (6-for-10, three homers, five RBIs). At least he can take solace in a Player of the Week honor. (May 18)
Jobs program Part 2: Fresh off opting out of his minor league deal with the Rangers, Adrian Houser goes straight from Triple-A Round Rock to the White Sox rotation on a one-year, $1.35 million deal. He throws six shutout innings in his debut, a 1-0 victory over the Mariners. (May 20)
Going, going, Vaughn: Andrew Vaughn is optioned to Charlotte for the first time in his White Sox career, which surprises (he'd played in 48 of 50 games) but doesn't shock (he was hitting .189/.218/.314). The White Sox telegraphed a changing of the guard by playing him less and less at first base after the promotion of Elko. (May 23)
Revealing symptoms, and eventually the cause: After attributing Hagen Smith's short outings and a missed start to weather and biomechanical work, Chris Getz finally gets down to the root cause: Smith's was displaying reduced velocity and reported elbow soreness. Getz says there aren't any structural issues, but it doesn't inspire a lot of early confidence in the pick. (May 23)
Other teams do it, too: The White Sox take the second game -- and the series -- from the Rangers with a 10-5 victory, keyed by a six-run sixth that opened with Texas outfielders colliding on the warning track. (May 24)
Sweeps remain elusive: Jordan Leasure and the White Sox defense blow a 3-2 lead in the ninth inning in the third and final game against the Rangers. The defining image is Lenyn Sosa forgetting that he's a first baseman, and catching Vargas' cross-diamond throw feet away from the bag. (May 25)
Doing it again: Adrian Houser throws six scoreless innings for the second time in as many starts with the White Sox, but the Mets rally against the White Sox bullpen to prevent him a second 1-0 victory. (May 26)
The price for Thaiss: Matt Thaiss becomes the first veteran to parlay a performance on the White Sox into a spot with a contender, getting traded to Tampa Bay for Dru Baker. (May 27)
Escape from New York: The White Sox reach 11 wins in a month for the first time since June 2023 with a 9-4 victory over the Mets, avoiding a sweep in Queens. (May 28)
What the Hell(mans): That's what Lenyn Sosa and Josh Rojas were thinking after Coby Mayo makes a ridiculous attempt to draw an interference call by lunging at Sosa on the infield grass during a rundown. The benches clear after Mayo shoves Sosa, who--like most Sox fans over the course of July 2023 to April 2025--seemed to want an explanation for what he just saw. (May 31)
— Sox On 35th (@VideosOn35th) May 31, 2025
