Month in a Box: The White Sox in July 2025

If linear development could ever be guaranteed, then it would be easy to see July as a turning point for the White Sox's fortunes. They couldn't quite secure their first non-losing month since June 2023, but the arrow pointed up in several other regards, and while the trade deadline removed a couple of reliable veteran contributors, it didn't vivisect them the way last year's deadline did.

The White Sox outscored opponents in a month for the first time since May 2023, 129-113. They won four consecutive games for the first time all season, recorded consecutive series victories on the road, and they didn't have a losing streak longer than three. Their offense can finally be credited for its watchability, gaining more than 100 points in OPS from June (.644) to July (.748). Their best monthly showing since July 2021(!) thrust them from being one of the league's worst units to squarely middle of the pack.

The gains have been hard-earned -- they finally figured out fastballs after 3½ months of getting buffaloed by them -- but they're meaningful nevertheless, especially in games where guys 25 and younger comprise the bulk of the lineup and the day's starting pitcher. Perhaps someday there will be a month where the record speaks for itself, but for now, more specific developmental victories will suffice.

WHITE SOX TEAM PERFORMANCE

• Record: 12-13
• Standings: Fifth, 23½ GB
• Longest winning streak: 4, July 18-21
• Longest losing streak: 3, July 6-9
• Largest margin of victory: 9, July 18 vs. Pittsburgh
• Largest margin of defeat: 5, July 1 vs. Dodgers, July 8 vs. Toronto

HITTING LEADERS

• Batting average: .353, Luis Robert Jr.
• On-base percentage: .441, Robert
• Slugging percentage: .635, Edgar Quero
• wRC+: 187, Quero
• Home runs: 5, Colson Montgomery
• RBI: 19, Lenyn Sosa
• Walks: 11, Andrew Benintendi
• Strikeouts: 26, Mike Tauchman
• Stolen bases: 5, Robert
• fWAR: 0.8, Robert

PITCHING LEADERS

• Wins: 3, Adrian Houser
• Losses: 2, Shane Smith, Aaron Civale, Jordan Leasure, Grant Taylor
• ERA: 2.42, Houser
• Innings: 27⅔, Jonathan Cannon
• Strikeouts: 25, Sean Burke
• Appearances: 11, Brandon Eisert, Dan Altavilla
• Relief innings: 14, Tyler Alexander
• fWAR: 0.6, Houser

COMING AND GOING

• White Sox debuts: Colson Montgomery, Will Robertson
• White Sox departures: Nick Nastrini, Tristan Gray, Austin Slater, Adrian Houser
• Going up: Brooks Baldwin, Montgomery, Gray, Tim Elko, Fraser Ellard, Robertson (2x), Wikelman González
• Going down: Vinny Capra, Gray, Ellard, Robertson

#SOXMORGUE

• Ryan Noda: Right quad strain
• Brooks Baldwin: Lower back strain
• Tim Elko: Right knee sprain
• Shane Smith: Left ankle sprain

WHITE SOX HONORS

Most Valuable Player: Edgar Quero

Underneath all the will-they-won't-they drama with Luis Robert Jr. and Colson Montgomery's clamorous debut, Edgar Quero's dynamite month went underappreciated ... until now. He hit .346/.417/.635 with half of his 18 hits going for extra bases, including his first three major league homers. The defensive side of the equation still needs work, particularly his receiving, but he's producing so well that Will Venable has gotten over his fear of playing both catchers after it burned him earlier in the year. Honorable mentions to Luis Robert Jr. (who missed time with the recurring adductor issue) and Colson Montgomery.

Least Valuable Player: Chase Meidroth

Meidroth's month started cold and ended cold ... and also in pain, as he took a pitch off the thumb. At least he came out of the All-Star break blazing, which meant that his final month isn't the worst anybody has ever seen by far (.220/.276/.330, 0.1 fWAR). It's more that everybody else raised their game, so Meidroth ending up in this place can be seen as a healthy development, all things considered.

Most Valuable Pitcher: Adrian Houser

Houser averaged better than six innings an outing in his final month with the White Sox, brushing aside a tough game in Pittsburgh with three quality starts around it. He probably should've been the White Sox's All-Star, but instead he had to settle for a trade to a contender, as the Sox sent him to Tampa Bay right before the deadline. He currently leads the Sox in wins (6), bWAR (3.0) and fWAR (1.7). Will that still be the case at the end of the year?

Least Valuable Pitcher: Shane Smith

Smith suffered two drubbings, then gave up a pair of solo shots over an intentionally shortened three-inning start before he headed to Atlanta for the All-Star Game. He spent the rest of the month on the injured list with a conveniently timed ankle sprain, so his 9.75 July ERA remained locked in place. He's still seeking his first satisfying start since mid-June.

Fire Man: Mike Vasil

Batman once again came to the rescue in a few games, throwing three scoreless innings in three different outings. He won two of them and deserved both -- three scoreless innings in the ninth, 10th and 11th against the Guardians, and four scoreless innings against the Phillies after Adrian Houser was a late scratch. He finished July with just one earned run over 13 innings.

Gas Can: Steven Wilson

Regression started catching up with Wilson in July, following months of him outpitching his peripherals. He came into it with a 1.73 ERA, but a 4.03 FIP, and that gap has narrowed after 10 appearances over which Wilson was eminently hittable (9 IP, 16 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 HR, 4 BB, 8 K, 1 HBP). He ended July with a 3.09 ERA, but his FIP remained roughly the same (4.14).

Bench Player: Austin Slater

Slater's job was to get traded, and he understood the assignment. The overall July numbers aren't terribly impressive -- .244/.277/.511 -- but they're dragged down by a 1-for-17 performance against righties. He earns his money against lefties, and he slugged .656 against them, which is why he's now on the Yankees. (He also saved his hamstring injury until after the trade, but who knows whether that was any sort of ticking time bomb.)

Stench Player: Josh Rojas

The arrival of Montgomery pushed him to the bench, and were guys like Meidroth and Miguel Vargas not dealing with injuries, he might've been designated for assignment by now. He posted the only sub-.600 OPS among White Sox with more than 10 plate appearances, and also the only sub-.500 OPS (.143/.196/.286).

Gold Glove: Luis Robert Jr.

While the groin issue limited his playing time somewhat, Robert did everything in his power to make himself marketable at the deadline, even if he found no takers. He hit .353/.441/.549 at the plate, and he illustrated his range with a couple of spectacular catches in center field -- one in the left-center gap in Pittsburgh, and one in the right-center gap against the Phillies. Right now, the lack of a trade is the White Sox's gain.

Hands of Stone: Josh Rojas

Rojas finished at the bottom of the Outs Above Average July leaderboard with -3, although one of the two errors he was tagged with at third base should've been charged either to Vargas or Coors Field, since the first baseman was blinded by the late-evening sun. The other came with two outs in the ninth and the White Sox leading by six, so there have been more consequential mistakes, but the White Sox finished above average as a team in terms of OAA in July, so somebody has to wear it, and Brooks Baldwin simply didn't play the outfield enough.

TIMELINE

Nicked: The Marlins close the book on half of the return of the Lance Lynn/Joe Kelly trade by claiming Nick Nastrini on waivers. The Marlins would then waive Nastrini after he walked four and plunked three over two innings, and now he's in the Dodgers organization. (July 1)

Grant rescinded: The White Sox's best hope for avoiding a sweep at Dodger Stadium evaporates in the ninth inning when the NL juggernauts detonate Grant Taylor's bid for a second consecutive two-inning save in a 5-4 comeback walk-off win. (July 2)

Colson coming: The White Sox's plans to summon Colson Montgomery for his long-awaited MLB debut for the Colorado series are announced by Montgomery's Indiana hometown radio stadium before the conclusion of the Dodgers series, although the White Sox had good reason to look forward to turning the page after a sweep in LA. (July 3)

Two firsts: Montgomery indeed makes his debut at Coors Field and makes a sensational over-the-shoulder catch, but Edgar Quero's first homer makes the difference in a skid-stopping 3-2 victory over the Rockies. (July 4)

R.I.P.: Less than two weeks before the 2005 White Sox reunion he was hoping to attend, Bobby Jenks dies of stomach cancer at the age of 44. (July 5)

Triples is best: Montgomery nearly hits his first homer a day later, but has to settle for a three-bagger as his first hit, which makes him exactly like Frank Thomas. (July 5)

Hey now: Holding off a late surge from Adrian Houser, Shane Smith is named the White Sox's mandatory All-Star. (July 6)

Puke and rally: Adrian Houser, no stranger to vomiting the nerves out early in starts, barfs after the first inning, then goes seven strong to help the White Sox avoid a sweep by the Blue Jays by the narrowest of margins. (July 9)

Buehrle in Bronze: Mark Buehrle's family unveils the latest statue on the Rate Field concourse honoring the lefty during the 2005 reunion weekend. (July 11)

Vasil to Victory: Thanks to three scoreless inning by Mike Vasil covering the ninth, 10th and 11th innings, the White Sox are able to cap off a long, emotional day by winning the back half of a doubleheader against Cleveland on a Mike Tauchman walk-off single. (July 11)

Eloy, Eloy, lama sabachthani: The Rays release Eloy Jiménez after 48 unimpressive games in the minors, most of them at Triple-A Durham. He hasn't yet found another team. (July 11)

Noah Future: Noah Schultz's second Futures Game appearance goes as poorly as his first, as he allows four runs over two-thirds of an inning. It turns out to be his last appearance of the month, as he's scratched from his next start with a knee injury and goes on the injured list afterward. (July 12)

Reunited, and it feels so bittersweet: While rain threatened the unveiling of the Buehrle statue, the weather cooperates for the 2005 White Sox reunion, which is in part a memorial service for Jenks. (July 12)

A fitting first half finale: Aaron Civale's bid for a quality start goes up in flames in the sixth inning as the White Sox close out the first half with a 6-5 loss to the Guardians in 10 innings. The Sox drop to 8-22 in one-run games. (July 13)

C'mon Billy: The White Sox draft Billy Carlson with the 10th overall pick in the first round of the MLB draft. (July 13)

Three days in two: The White Sox select the remaining 17 members of their 2025 draft class, which includes four shortstops and four prep players commanding significant bonuses. (July 14)

Shane survives: Shane Smith drills Eugenio Suárez on the hand to open his All-Star appearance, but gets James Wood to ground out before Joe Torre comes out to take the ball. His inherited runner is stranded, so he comes away with a 0.00 ERA. (July 15)

Refreshed: With a few days to rest and a renewed emphasis on covering the fastball, the White Sox open the second half with a 10-1 victory over the Pirates at PNC Park, with Luis Robert Jr. stealing the show on both sides of the ball, including this tremendous diving catch. (July 18)

Worth the trip: The White Sox finally win the centerpiece game of a Sox Machine/FromThe108 tailgate trip, overcoming deficits of 3-0 and 4-2 with a six-run sixth for a 10-4 winner that satisfies the 110 people or so who made the voyage. (July 19)

Sweeping beauties: After failing to seal the deal in their first five chances, the White Sox finally complete the task at hand by sweeping the Pirates in Pittsburgh with a 7-2 victory in the finale. Mike Tauchman became the second White Sox to club a ball into the Allegheny River. (July 20)

Damn, that torpedo: The White Sox finally lose their first game of the second half after coming out of the break with four straight wins, but Colson Montgomery's first career homer -- with a torpedo bat he just started using -- dulls the pain. (July 22)

No longer in the Cards: Nearly a year after the White Sox traded him to the Cardinals in a controversial three-way deal that nets Miguel Vargas and two Low-A prospects, Erick Fedde is DFA'd by St. Louis. (July 23)

The kids can play: Kyle Teel collects his first four-hit night while Colson Montgomery drives in five as the White Sox outlast the Rays 11-9 for a series victory in Tampa. (July 23)

Magic City indeed: Ryan Galanie's walk-off single gives the Birmingham Barons a 7-6 victory over Montgomery, extending their winning streak to 12 games. (July 24)

Crosstown catharsis: Adrian Houser throws a quality start in what turns out to be his last start for the White Sox, and the White Sox jump all over Shota Imanaga for a 12-5 victory that's their only win against the Cubs in six games this year. (July 25)

The kids can make mistakes: The White Sox fall short in their attempt to salvage a season split against the Cubs, with Lenyn Sosa getting confused by an infield fly on the basepaths and Montgomery committing interference in a doomed rundown that led to decisive run in a 5-4 victory for the North Siders. (July 27)

Dick's Day: Dick Allen is finally enshrined into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, with his widow Willa delivering the acceptance speech on his behalf. (July 27)

The first domino: While the White Sox had technically made a trade earlier this month by sending Tristan Gray to the Rays for cash, dealing Austin Slater to the Yankees for Gage Ziehl is a more typical acknowledgement of the impending deadline. (July 30)

Seventh heaven: While the departure of Slater and a late scratch of Adrian Houser mean the White Sox are playing shorthanded, they still manage to string together seven consecutive hits, including a pair of three-run homers, to take a series against the Phillies with a 9-2 thumping in the rubber match. (July 30)

Re-Housing: The White Sox find a partner in the trade they had to make, sending Adrian Houser to the Rays for Curtis Mead and two pitching prospects 10 minutes before the deadline. Luis Robert Jr. stays, which means there are only two dominoes. (July 31)