Month in a Box: The White Sox in April 2026

The White Sox finished with a .500 April at 13-13, which some people touted as their first non-losing month since June 2023. But in this house, as with the data sites that offer monthly splits, "April" also comprises the little bit of March, just like September used to include a few few days of October before Major League Baseball expanded the postseason. Otherwise, you could say the White Sox had a .500 month in 2025 by opening the year with a 2-2 March.

At 14-17, the White Sox continued their monthly losing streak, but they accomplished their more modest goal of simply not crapping the bed out of the gate.

• April 2023: 8-21, 9 GB
• April 2024: 6-23, 13.5 GB
• April 2025: 7-23, 11.5 GB
• April 2026: 14-17, 1.5 GB

Not only would a fourth consecutive 100-loss season be a surprise, but thanks to AL Central returning to its classic shape, the White Sox actually have playoff odds that don't start with "0." Granted, FanGraphs only put their probability at 2.3 percent at the end of April, but they have to start somewhere.

WHITE SOX TEAM PERFORMANCE

• Record: 14-17
• Standings: Third, 3 GB
• Longest winning streak: 3, April 3-5, April 27-29
• Longest losing streak: 3, March 26-29, April 6-8, April 14-16
• Largest margin of victory: 7, April 17 at Athletics
• Largest margin of defeat: 12, March 26 at Brewers

HITTING LEADERS

• Batting average: .273, Tristan Peters
• On-base percentage: .375, Munetaka Murakami
• Slugging percentage: .564, Murakami
• wRC+: 152, Murakami
• Home runs: 12, Murakami
• RBI: 23, Murakami
• Walks: 25, Murakami
• Strikeouts: 46, Murakami
• Stolen bases: 6, Luisangel Acuña
• fWAR: 1.3, Colson Montgomery

PITCHING LEADERS

• Wins: 4, Davis Martin
• Losses: 3, Erick Fedde and Seranthony Domínguez
• ERA: 1.95, Martin
• Innings: 37, Martin
• Strikeouts: 33, Martin
• Appearances: 15, Bryan Hudson
• Relief innings: 18, Sean Newcomb
• fWAR: 1.1, Martin

COMING AND GOING

• White Sox debuts: Munetaka Murakami, Luisangel Acuña, Austin Hays, Everson Pereira, Tristan Peters, Anthony Kay, Seranthony Domínguez, Sean Newcomb, Jordan Hicks, Chris Murphy, Jedixson Paéz, Lucas Sims, Tanner Murray, Dustin Harris, Tyler Schweitzer, Duncan Davitt, Sam Antonacci, Doug Nikhazy, Osvaldo Bido, Tyler Davis, Drew Romo, Jarred Kelenic
• White Sox departures: Curtis Mead, Páez, Lenyn Sosa, Harris, Reese McGuire, Nikhazy
• Going up: Sims, Murray, Schweitzer, Davitt, Brandon Eisert, Jonathan Cannon, Antonacci, Tyler Gilbert, Nikhazy, Davis, Romo, Kelenic,
• Going down: Gilbert, Eisert, Gilbert, Nikhazy, Sims

#SOXMORGUE

• Everson Pereira: Right ankle sprain, right pectoral strain
• Austin Hays: Right hamstring strain
• Chris Murphy: Left elbow impingement syndrome
• Jonathan Cannon: Right hip inflammation
• Tanner Murray: Left shoulder dislocation

WHITE SOX HONORS

Most Valuable Player: Munetaka Murakami

Colson Montgomery ended up topping him in fWAR due to his defensive edge as a more-than-capable shortstop, but it's not nearly enough to second-guess Murakami, whose power exploits have injected so much intrigue and energy into the 2026 White Sox. He's not bad at first base either, despite a couple of early awkward moments.

Least Valuable Player: Edgar Quero

Kyle Teel's absence afforded Quero the opportunity to establish himself as a No. 1 catcher in his own right, but he instead finished the month hitting .159/.272/.174, with Drew Romo infringing on his playing time. The ability to challenge pitch calls has helped patch his leaky framing, but even there, he risks mashing that button too much.

Most Valuable Pitcher: Davis Martin

For a team that optioned its Opening Day starter and is still struggling to find the right late-inning combination despite significant bullpen investments, Martin's April was a godsend. He finished the month with a 1.95 ERA, but more importantly, he averaged more than six innings per start, providing the combination of quality and quantity that's usually reserved for the league's elite.

Last Valuable Pitcher: Shane Smith

Standing in stark contrast is Smith, who threw a total of 8 ⅓ innings over three starts before the White Sox sent him to Charlotte, where righting the ship has proven difficult. The line reflects the difficulty of the viewing experience: 8.1 IP, 12 H, 12 R, 10 ER, 1 HR, 9 BB, 11 K.

Fire Man: Bryan Hudson

The White Sox claimed him a couple of days into the season, and it's a good thing they did, because he immediately graduated into some of the toughest situations among White Sox lefties, ranking behind Domínguez and Grant Taylor in terms of leverage index, and showed some staying power (14 IP, 13 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 7 BB, 18 K).

Gas Can: Jordan Leasure

The White Sox used 20 pitchers over the course of the month, so they definitely rostered less effective pitchers, but Leasure had the roughest month of anybody who hung around for a bit. He allowed 12 runs (11 earned) over 14 innings thanks to a whopping five homers, and because a lot of these situations were in the later innings, he finishd with the worst Win Probability Added for the month (-0.67).

Bench Player: Tristan Peters

He accrued more playing time than the typical bench player, but that's because he provided a more palatable option than Acuña in center field, and filled in the corners around injuries for Hays and Pereira. He hit .273/.324/.318, and while that doesn't jump off the page, one of those hits was a walk-off, and he added four steals in four attempts and reliable defense.

Stench Player: Reese McGuire

Quero's unexpected struggles probably exposed McGuire more than the White Sox intended, but he still batted and slugged .172 while allowing 15 steals in 15 attempts, and Romo usurped him by the end of the month. In the end, he was just a strange use of $1.2 million.

Gold Glove: Colson Montgomery

Montgomery followed up his surprising showing at short last season by leading all White Sox defenders at 5 Outs Above Average in April. He was charged with just one error, and while a harsher official scorer might have added a second, that total would be outnumbered by the plus plays either way.

Hands of Stone: Luisangel Acuña

Acuña's defense in center field graded out poorly per OOA (-3), but decently in terms of Defensive Runs Saved (+1). The eye test leans toward the lower number, both due to the shakiness of his reads and a league-leading three errors, partially due to a throwing motion that works better at shortstop.

Timeline

Un-grand opening: After Chase Meidroth homers on the season's first pitch, the White Sox strike out 20 times against Jacob Misiorowski and Co. in a 14-2 loss to the Brewers. It's the fourth time they've struck out 20 times, but the first in a nine-inning game. The others required extras. (March 26)

Run out of the building: Although the score of the second game in Milwaukee is closer, a 6-1 game feels like 12-1, what with the Brewers stealing seven bases in seven attempts. (March 28)

The 2025 bullpen hangs around: The White Sox are well-positioned to avoid a sweep at American Family Field by building a 7-2 lead through three. Then Chris Murphy and Seranthony Domínguez conspire to give up six runs in the eighth, capped off by a foundation-rattling go-ahead homer by a pinch-hitting Christian Yelich. (March 29)

Winless no longer: Miguel Vargas gives the White Sox a grand slam for the second consecutive day, but his six-RBI day is not in vain, as the White Sox club the Marlins 9-4 for their first win of the season. (March 30)

Rule over Rule 5 ends: The White Sox designate Jedixson Páez for assignment before the end of the season's second series, so neither of their Rule 5 picks lasts into April. (March 31)

Madduxed: While Shane Smith, one of two Rule 5 success stories for the White Sox last year, allows a career-high seven earned runs, Sandy Alcantara spins a shutout on just 93 pitches. Miami takes two of three, and the White Sox open the season 1-5. (March 31)

Capitalizing on a cold catcher: After Toronto catcher Alejandro Kirk suffers a broken thumb on a foul tip, the White Sox take advantage of backup Tyler Heineman in the 10th inning. Derek Hill drops a bunt in front of the plate, Heineman bounces the throw into right field to allow the tying run to score, and then Peters caps it off with a walk-off single. (April 3)

Lucky 13: Ozzie Guillen's No. 13 had been unofficially retired for years, but the White Sox make the date official (Aug. 8) with a midgame announcement on Opening Day. (April 3)

Heineman again: The Blue Jays' backup backstop continues to warrant the wrong kind of attention when he's thrown out at third to snuff a potential game-tying rally in the top of the eighth, then airmails a rundown throw for two insurance runs in the bottom of the inning as the White Sox win 6-3. (April 4)

A surprising sweep: Thanks to a run-saving play by Tanner Murray in his MLB debut, the White Sox knock off the Blue Jays by a score that also reflects the series: 3-0. (April 5)

Like Mike: Reminiscent of Mike Tauchman's hamstring failing him in high-leverage moments, Hays pulls up lame, then pulls up short trying to run down a Tyler O'Neill fly. Adley Rutschman scores all the way from first for an extra run on Erick Fedde's tab, and the game is decided by that margin. (April 6)

From Opening Day to Triple-A: For the second consecutive season, the White Sox option their Opening Day starter to Charlotte, except while they waited for August with Sean Burke in 2025, the White Sox only needed to see a third start from Shane Smith. (April 8)

Heads up, then heads hung low: The White Sox end up getting swept by Baltimore, but Meidroth briefly turns the table when he scores from second on a walk because Kyle Bradish drops the return throw. (April 8)

Kings of Kauffman, kinda: The White Sox snap their 14-game losing streak in Kansas City 2-0 behind Anthony Kay and three White Sox relievers. (April 9)

Two more 2-0: The White Sox are then shut out by the same score over the next two games, which end up being the team's two shortest of the pitch clock era, registering 114 minutes and 116 minutes respectively. (April 10-11)

#WILDPITCHOFFENSE: Despite losing their bulk boy after three batters, the White Sox manage to escape Kauffman with a split thanks to a decisive wild pitch from John Schreiber. (April 12)

Lenyn's dead: The White Sox resolve one odd, out-of-options fit on the roster by trading Lenyn Sosa to Toronto for minor league outfielder Jordan Rich and a player to be named later or cash. (April 13)

Rookie jitters: An overamped Noah Schultz makes his first major league start, but his first major league win will have to wait, as early control problems put him in a hole neither he nor the White Sox can climb out of in an 8-5 loss to the Rays. Sam Antonacci debuts a day later in a transaction that was handled awkwardly. (April 14 and April 15)

A one-man battery: Reese McGuire pitches a scoreless ninth, then becomes the first White Sox pitcher to log a hit since Hanser Alberto in 2023, which is the lone bright spot in an 8-3 loss to Tampa Bay in which the Sox offense was handcuffed by old friend Jesse Scholtens. (April 15)

The low point: A 5-3 loss to the Rays locks in a second consecutive sweep at home around that four-game KC series, dropping the White Sox to 6-13 on the season. (April 16)

Westward ho: The White Sox open a series in Sacramento with Murakami's most majestic homer of the season to date: a grand slam that cleared the batter's eye at Sutter Health Park. (April 17)

A personal sweep: A blown lead in Game 2 scuttles hopes of a sweep, but Murakami manages to homer in each game of a series for the second time this year, and at least the Sox took two of three against the A's, rather than getting swept like they did in Milwaukee. (April 19)

Antonacci sequence: You wouldn't bet on Sam Antonacci's first homer being an inside-the-parker, but you also wouldn't bet against it. It should've been a double since it touched the ball guy along the wall, but still. (April 21)

They're streaking: The White Sox drop the second game in Arizona 11-7, but the middle of the order makes it worth watching. Murakami homers for the fifth straight game, while Montgomery extends his personal streak to four games, making it the first time that one MLB lineup has had two streaks of such length going. Poor Vargas' three-game streak pales in comparison. (April 22)

Benintendi's turn: Those home run streaks die in the Arizona finale, but Andrew Benintendi makes it moot with a go-ahead three-run shot in the ninth inning of a 4-1 victory, locking in a successful 4-2 road trip out West. (April 23)

Daily Double down: pnoles appears on Jeopardy!, and his aggressive all-in bet on the first Daily Double of Double Jeopardy results in one of the most exciting games in the show's history, statistically speaking. (April 23)

Another Antonacci sequence: After failing to sell an HBP that would have loaded the bases of a tie game with one out, Antonacci delivers the go-ahead sacrifice fly that was the better outcome all along in a 5-4 White Sox winner over the Nationals. (April 24)

Unnatural position: Career infielder Tanner Murray suffers a season-ending shoulder fracture making a diving catch in left field in the 10th inning of a second consecutive extra-innings loss to Washington. (April 26)

Worth the wait: A three-hour rain delay pushes the conclusion of their 8-7 win over the Angels past midnight, but the fraction of the 10,193 fans who endured witness a seven-run seventh -- capped off by a Murakami homer off lefty Drew Pomeranz -- that propels the White Sox to their largest come-from-behind victory since 2023. (April 27)

Drew it up: In shades of Seby Zavala, Romo hits his first two MLB homers in the same game, and from both sides of the plate in a 5-2 victory over Los Angeles. (April 28)

Drew down: Pomeranz falters against another White Sox lefty in a game-breaking situation, with Montgomery lining a hanging curveball to center for a 10th-inning sweep-sealing walk-off single. (April 29)