The White Sox look poised to end their streak of three consecutive 100-loss seasons, but before they log enough games to get to that point, they'll get a shot to end another three-year streak of sending no more than their single required representative to the All-Star Game.
It probably won't come through the fan vote, but the initial update posted by Major League Baseball on Monday shows that White Sox fans are energized, and other baseball fans are starting to notice.
*Munetaka Murakami is third among American League first basemen, but with the third-highest vote total among infielders in general.
*Miguel Vargas is running third at third.
*Colson Montgomery is in fourth place among shortstops.
*Chase Meidroth occupies eighth place at second base.
*Sam Antonacci is 18th among 20 outfielders listed.
They're in even better shape if you filter out Canada's proclivity for stuffing the ballot box. Ernie Clement is leading all second basemen in voting, and he might be worthy of a spot when the smoke clears, but the Blue Jays who occupy second place at catcher (Alejandro Kirk), first (Vladimir Guerrero Jr.), third base (Kazuma Okamoto), shortstop (Andres Giménez) and DH (George Springer) shouldn't factor into the final roster.
Setting aside the specific places the White Sox occupy, the progress from 2025 to 2026 is rather remarkable. In last year's initial voting update, the White Sox had two players receiving top-10 support or top-20 support at a given position, and neither was what you would consider a classic candidate. Mike Tauchman was a distant third among DHs, and Lenyn Sosa was 10th out of 10 second basemen listed. Shane Smith ended up being last year's mandatory selection, and while he hasn't been able to bolster his status, the White Sox have several candidates who have picked up the slack, even before getting to the pitchers.
Whoever the White Sox end up sending to the All-Star Game will have to talk to James, because he'll be on hand for the festivities. Between the increased national focus on the White Sox and their selecting No. 1 overall in the MLB Draft that weekend, we kinda have to be in Philadelphia, don't we? Please subscribe to Sox Machine to help us fund more travel that didn't seem necessary to plan a couple months ago.
Spare Parts
Two more signs of improved franchise vitality: 1) The White Sox are in the headline of a power rankings story, and 2) the Dodgers moved up to No. 1 despite losing a series to the White Sox.
The Brewers are at it again in so many respects, but this one -- their ability to hit with runners in scoring position well above the league average -- does a lot to explain how they confound projections. The White Sox, who are trying to emulate Milwaukee in many respects, are merely average in this regard, but average works right now.
Another way the White Sox aren't yet emulating the Brewers? They've had new managers at Triple-A the last three seasons and four out of the last five. Meanwhile, Rick Sweet has helmed Milwaukee's Triple-A affiliate in Nashville for the last 13 seasons. He's managed for 38 years overall, and at 2,478 minor league wins, he's closing in on the all-time record.
This Tyler Kepner article fills in the questions I've had about Sweet being a fixture in Nashville, especially when he stands -- or hunches -- in stark contrast to a fresh-faced Charlotte manager year after year.
The White Sox are bunting more than usual, but so is the entire league on average, and with it comes a focus on how often they're successful, and against which pitches. Four-seam fastballs get popped up the most, but curveballs have the lowest success rate overall.
Dustin May surfaced plenty of times over the course of last winter's Sox Machine Offseason Plan Project -- he was the second-most popular free agent pitcher overall, in fact -- and he's validating the support of our armchair GMs with his recent work in St. Louis. He threw a one-hitter on Monday, which was his second no-hit bid over his last four starts, and he's lowered his ERA to 3.75 over 81 ⅔ innings after this hot streak. The Cardinals signed him for one year and $12.5 million, which looks like a steal.
That said, the Sox instead signed Anthony Kay at this tier, and he's outperforming the two-year, $12 million deal he signed thus far, so both teams found a pitcher that has helped them toward their respective league's most surprising record.
