Month in a Box: The White Sox in August 2026

Between a trip to St. Petersburg and Boston to open the month and 16 straight days with a game across the middle of it, August didn't figure to be an easy assignment for the White Sox. They only finished .500 at 14-14, but they came into the month with a three-game lead, and they left the month with a three-game lead, and if they do the same thing again in September, everybody can enjoy the final weekend.

If it didn't feel that successful, you only have to look at the run differential. August was the White Sox fourth straight month finishing .500 or better, but it was the first time they allowed more runs than they scored.

• May: +32
• June: +22
• July: +18
• August: -7

Will Venable spent a lot of the month scrambling for innings from unusual sources, and the White Sox's trade deadline acquisitions haven't provided any of the expected reinforcement, so if there's a sense that collapse is around the corner, it's partially because they've seemingly spent the entire season fixing the plane in midair. The good news is the runway's in sight, so let's see if they can land it.

WHITE SOX TEAM PERFORMANCE

• Record: 14-14
• Standings: First, 3 up
• Longest winning streak: 4, Aug. 25-29
• Longest losing streak: 4, Aug. 4-7
• Largest margin of victory: 8, Aug. 2 at Rays
• Largest margin of defeat: 12, Aug. 4 at Red Sox

HITTING LEADERS

• Batting average: .320, Tristan Peters
• On-base percentage: .427, Miguel Vargas
• Slugging percentage: .640, Peters
• wRC+: 194, Peters
• Home runs: 6, Peters and Vargas
• RBI: 15, Braden Montgomery
• Walks: 25, Vargas
• Strikeouts: 47, Colson Montgomery
• Stolen bases: 3, Antonacci
• fWAR: 1.5, Peters

PITCHING LEADERS

• Wins: 3, Grant Taylor
• Losses: 2, Anthony Kay, Erick Fedde and Noah Schultz
• ERA: 4.29, Fedde
• Innings: 33, Kay
• Strikeouts: 26, Kay
• Appearances: 12, Taylor
• Relief innings: 19⅔, Trevor Richards
• fWAR: 0.7, Sean Newcomb

COMING AND GOING

• White Sox debuts: Luis Castillo, Brenton Doyle, Joey Bart, Huascar Brazobán, Hagen Smith, Tanner McDougal, José Urquidy, Jake Rogers
• White Sox departures: Seranthony Domínguez, Duncan Davitt, Everson Pereira, Austin Hays, Wikelman González, Joe Rock
• Going up: Davitt, David Sandlin, Edgar Quero, Smith, McDougal, Tyler Schweitzer, Urquidy, Rikuu Nishida, Jonathan Cannon, Tyler Davis, Tyler Gilbert
• Going down: Davitt, Gilbert(x2), Schweitzer, Quero, Sandlin, Noah Schultz, McDougal, Quero, Cannon, Nishida

#SOXMORGUE

• Joey Bart: Fifth metacarpal fracture in left hand
• Chris Murphy: Left flexor strain
• Davis Martin: Right middle finger blister
• Huascar Brazobán: Left lat strain

WHITE SOX HONORS

Most Valuable Player: Tristan Peters

Given the slump he encountered immediately after his surprising All-Star nod, it wouldn't have been a shock if Peters spent the rest of 2026 desperately attempting to stave off regression. Instead, Peters rallied to hit .320/.414/.640 with six homers, including five straight games leaving the yard. There are more crucial White Sox hitters when it comes to generating instant offense, but Peters has done wonders to lengthen the White Sox lineup.

Least Valuable Player: Munetaka Murakami

You could keep pointing at the catchers like we did for the previous two months, but Murakami's fall-off was felt. He hit just .147/.304/.343 with a 37-percent strikeout rate, and it wasn't just that he failed to homer in any of the last 12 games, but he also had just one multi-hit game all month. Walks only buoyed his value so much.

Most Valuable Pitcher: Sean Newcomb

With Sean Burke looking less than his best, Davis Martin going on the IL and Luis Castillo failing to provide immediate help, the White Sox had to lean heavily on their bullpen, and Newcomb answered the call better than anybody. He didn't allow an earned run over 18⅓ innings, and becuase he averaged fewer than 15 pitches per inning, he put himself in a position to give Will Venable an extra inning that he might not have planned for. His last five outings all covered at least six outs.

Last Valuable Pitcher: Davis Martin

Martin only made three starts due to a blister issue that put him on the IL, but he gave up 15 runs (13 earned) over eight total innings in August, and 11 of those runs were scored in first innings, putting his team behind the 8-ball almost immediately.

Fire Man: Sean Newcomb

For obvious reasons, but Grant Taylor shoved as well, posting a 0.55 ERA over 12 games and 16⅓ innings.

Gas Can: Huascar Brazobán

The White Sox were expecting Brazobán to give Will Venable another comfortable medium-leverage arm option from the right side after they acquired him from the Mets, but he was scored upon in six of 10 outings, during which his ground-ball rate plummeted and his strikeout-to-walk numbers also went in the wrong direction.

Bench Player: Randal Grichuk

Grichuk doesn't walk, but considering he hit .326/.326/.630 over 46 plate appearances in August, he really doesn't have to when two of every three hits go for extra bases.

Stench Player: Luisangel Acuña

Acuña went 1-for-2 stealing bases in August, and is 2-for-6 over the last two months, which is a problem considering that's going to be his primary source of his perceived value the rest of the way.

Gold Glove: Chase Meidroth

Meidroth led the White Sox in Fielding Run Value at +4 for August, and his range is what sets him apart. Whenever a ball gets past a diving Sam Antonacci, there's always the sense that Meidroth might've been able to get to it.

Hands of Stone: Braden Montgomery

It seems like Montgomery should have the athleticism and arm to be a plus right fielder in time, but it's an uneasy viewing experience for the time being, particularly with regards to his diving attempts. He finished a team-worst -5 in FRV, and that's reflected in the number of entries in his misplay/error tags.

Timeline

Bad contract swap: The White Sox begin a flurry of moves before the trade deadline by sending Seranthony Domínguez's underwater contract to Seattle along with Boston Smith and Nolan Jones for Luis Castillo, who is owed even more money through next year. (Aug. 1)

Blocking the Rays: The White Sox take two out of three from the Rays in St. Petersburg, more than holding their own against the best team in the American League. (Aug. 2)

More moves: Huascar Brazobán joins the White Sox bullpen as veteran-but-controllable ballast after he's acquired from the Mets for Gabe Davis and Zach Franklin. (Aug. 3)

Even more moves: The White Sox add a right-handed center fielder by trading Mason Adams and Carlos Vielma to Colorado for Brenton Doyle. (Aug. 3)

Finally, a catcher: In a swap of (about-to-be-)DFA'd players, the White Sox acquire Joey Bart from the Braves for Duncan Davitt. (Aug. 3)

False start for the Dart: Davis Martin's first-inning struggles continue when he gives up six runs to the Red Sox before recording a second out in the opener at Fenway Park, which they lose 14-2. (Aug. 4)

End of Hays: The White Sox designated Austin Hays for assignment, cutting bait on a one-year, $6 million commitment undermined by leg injuries. (Aug. 5)

All that for a sweep: In the most exhausting game of the season, the White Sox blow leads of 4-2, 7-5, 9-7, 10-9 and 11-10 in an 12-11 loss to the Red Sox in 13 innings. Bart's contributions to the 2026 White Sox are limited to two games after an HBP breaks a finger. (Aug. 6)

Full Bevington: Will Venable makes the most embarrassing blunder of his managerial career to date when he comes out to talk to Noah Schultz in the first inning, not realizing that Zach Bove had already made a mound visit. Schultz is forced to leave the game after one-third of an inning, and David Sandlin is forced to wear it in an 8-2 loss to the Guardians in the opener of a four-game series. (Aug. 7)

No. 13: The White Sox officially retire Ozzie Guillen's No. 13 with a pregame ceremony before a 6-3 victory over the Guardians that snaps a season-long four-game losing streak. (Aug. 8)

No. 13: A rain delay of 2 hours, 23 minutes knocks out both starters of the series finale against Cleveland after one inning, but six White Sox relievers are able to outpitch the Guardians' six-man effort for a 5-3 victory to cap off a tough 13-game stretch. (Aug. 9)

Ta-ta, TA: Tim Anderson officially announces his retirement via a Zoom call with Chicago-area media, and the White Sox announce a day to commemorate his career on Sept. 17. (Aug. 10)

Pope hats fall flat: A capacity crowd of 38,113 that came for the pope hat giveaway watches the White Sox blow a 4-1 lead to Cincinnati. But fans did exchange a fifth-inning "Peace Be With You," so hopefully that provided some inner tranquility. (Aug. 11)

Dart dodging: Davis Martin is ejected in the third inning of a rubber match against the Reds for throwing two consecutive fastballs at Sal Stewart's head. Stewart had homered off him in the first inning, but the control lapse was more attributable to a blister that will put him on the IL. (Aug. 13)

Real estate dealings: Amtrak announces that it received two grands to fund a construction of a new maintenance facility near Rate Field in Bridgeport, the first domino in Justin Ishbia's plan to open up a South Loop plot for a new White Sox ballpark. (Aug. 14)

The stars are out: All of the White Sox's All-Stars homer in a 9-5 series-opening victory over the Tigers, which is also their 63rd victory of the season, ensuring that the Sox won't lose 100 games for a fourth straight year. (Aug. 14)

Tiger tanking: The White Sox dig deep for a 7-5 victory at Comerica Park to secure a three-game sweep over the Tigers, which kicks their closest competitor from 2½ games to 5½ games back. (Aug. 16)

For Pete's sake: Will Venable opts to have Hagen Smith pitch to Pete Crow-Armstrong with first base open to start the 10th inning of a 5-5 game, and PCA ends up belting a no-doubt walk-off to usher in waves of second-guessing. (Aug. 17)

Bregman's turn: The White Sox suffer another heartbreaker at Wrigley Field when Alex Bregman singles off Grant Taylor to tie the game at 3 in the seventh, then delivers a walk-off base hit against Trevor Richards in the ninth. A one-hour, 28-minute rain delay took a second inning from Taylor off the board. (Aug. 19)

Salvaging a split: José Urquidy helps the White Sox take the finale at Wrigley field to ensure a 3-3 season series by thrownig six innings of nearly perfect bulk work in a 3-0 White Sox winner. (Aug. 20)

One GD hit: An Andrew Benintendi opposite-field single is the only thing standing between the White Sox and a combined no-hitter in a 2-0 loss to the Braves. (Aug. 21)

A real purse-emptier: A few batters after Jefry Yan leapt for joy on a ball out of the zone he anticipated being strike three, Jake Rogers issued the agony of defeat with a two-run walk-off homer to cap off a 6-4 White Sox winner. The fan who caught the ball was able to regain the contents of her bag. (Aug. 21)

Roch not made of stone: Roch Cholowsky's pro debut season comes to an end after nine games when the White Sox decide to shut him down due to a sore wrist from a hit by pitch. (Aug. 22)

HBP history: Sam Antonacci breaks the franchise record shared by Carlos Quentin and Minnie Miñoso when he's hit by a pitch for the 24th time this season. (Aug. 23)

There's always money in the banana bat: Swinging the wrapped yellow bat that he used in the All-Star Game as a nod to his Savannah Bananas days, Tristan Peters caps off Players' Weekend with his third walk-off plate appearance of the year. (Aug. 23)

214 pitches: Urquidy throws 93 pitches through three innings, and Trevor Richards throw 61 pitches over 2 ⅔ before Will Venable calls for Luisangel Acuña to get the final out of an 11-2 loss to the Rangers. Despite a valiant effort, they come up eight short of their season high. (Aug. 24)

Punching back: After an ugly loss to start the Texas series, the White Sox hang six first-inning runs on Jacob deGrom, thanks in part to some goofy defense. The Sox hang on for an 11-7 win. (Aug. 25)

Another five-game run: Tristan Peters ties a White Sox record by homering for the fifth straight game in the White Sox's 10-4 win over Texas. He joins seven others, including Munetaka Murakami earlier this season. (Aug. 26)

Still weird: Here's the pope posing with his White Sox pope hat. (Aug. 27)

Digging up: With their 71st win of the season in a 7-4 victory over Minnesota, the White Sox set a record for most victories in a season after three consecutive 100-loss campaigns. (Aug. 28)

All the hits: Andrew Benintendi joins Lamar Johnson as the only players in White Sox history to supply all three of their team's hits in a game. Just like Johnson back in 1977, the White Sox won. Unlike Johnson, Benintendi didn't sing the national anthem before the game. (Aug. 29)

Pham reunion: The White Sox end the month as they started it by swinging a trade, this time purchasing Tommy Pham from the Phillies in a move that most didn't see coming. (Aug. 31)