Three 100-loss seasons had left the White Sox staring at the long side of a rebuild. Now, in 2026, Chicago is headed to October, the first club in Major League history to reach the postseason after enduring at least two straight 100-loss campaigns — and these Sox did it after three. The turnaround carries them into an American League Wild Card Series against the Astros, with Game 1 scheduled for Tuesday at 5 p.m. ET, 4 p.m. CT on NBC, Peacock and NBCSN.
It is not merely a better version of the team that lost 121 games in 2024, the most defeats ever by a club in a 162-game season. It is almost a different organization wearing the same uniform. Players who appeared as hitters for both the 2024 and 2026 White Sox accounted for only 19.8% of this year’s plate appearances. Returning pitchers have faced 33% of the batters Chicago has seen this season.
Andrew Benintendi, Tommy Pham, Lenyn Sosa and Miguel Vargas are the only position players to have appeared for both clubs, and only Benintendi logged 400 plate appearances in each season. Pham went from 297 plate appearances in 2024 to 21 this year after being dealt at that deadline and returning late in the present season. Sosa, who had 369 plate appearances in 2024 and 33 in 2026, was sent to Toronto in April. Vargas tells the more revealing story: after 157 difficult plate appearances following his 2024 arrival, he has received 704 chances this year and emerged as Chicago’s top hitter.
Five pitchers bridged the two rosters: Sean Burke, Davis Martin, Erick Fedde, Jonathan Cannon and Jordan Leasure. Burke, Martin and Fedde became regular starters in 2026. Cannon, after carrying a much larger workload two years ago, made only two Major League appearances this season. Leasure, who worked 33 games from the bullpen in 2024, has been sidelined since May.
The moves that changed the room
The clearest foundation stone came when Chicago traded Garrett Crochet after his breakout 2024 season. Moving a controllable frontline arm is never a quiet decision, but the four-prospect return supplied much of the club now preparing for October. Chase Meidroth, Kyle Teel and Braden Montgomery are expected to be in the postseason lineup.
Meidroth brought value on both sides of the ball, finishing with 4.5 Baseball-Reference WAR. Teel has worked through injuries but returned with his considerable promise still intact behind the plate. Montgomery’s first Major League season has begun slowly at the plate, with a .664 OPS, yet his work in right field has been steady.
Vargas arrived through the 2024 three-team transaction involving the White Sox, Dodgers and Cardinals. Pham, Fedde and Michael Kopech left Chicago in that deal, while Vargas, once a top-50 prospect, came south. His first 42 games with the White Sox produced a .387 OPS, extending the early big-league struggles he had experienced in Los Angeles. He made himself a roughly league-average hitter in 2025, then broke through in full this season with 33 home runs and an .837 OPS, pairing a disciplined approach with new power.
Chicago also found impact outside the trade market. Munetaka Murakami arrived after winning two MVP awards in Japan’s NPB. His power and patience were attractive, though questions followed him about defense and strikeouts. The White Sox landed him on a favorable opportunity, and the first baseman delivered 35 homers with an .826 OPS despite a quieter second half. Inside the clubhouse, his presence has been regarded as a meaningful part of the club’s changed atmosphere.
Fedde’s path back to the South Side became another useful turn. Chicago had first brought him back to the majors in 2024 after his KBO season, then used his success as part of the package that helped acquire Vargas. After bouncing around without finding a lasting spot in 2025, Fedde returned and gave the 2026 rotation 141 innings with a 3.83 ERA. He was not asked to be the ace; he was asked to take the ball, and he did.
Draft picks and unexpected contributors
Burke became the staff’s No. 1 starter in his second full rotation season. The 2021 third-round selection logged 172 1/3 innings with a 3.34 ERA, the kind of draft development a rebuilding club needs to turn a corner.
Another 2024 selection, fifth-rounder Antonacci, brought a different kind of edge in his debut. Often batting first, he posted a .766 OPS while moving around the field defensively. He also led the American League after being hit by 29 pitches, a fitting mark for a player who came to represent the club’s scrappy identity.
The bullpen was a top-10 group in team ERA, and 2023 second-round pick Taylor was its most valuable arm. In his second season, he recorded a 2.25 ERA and 2.8 Baseball-Reference WAR, collecting 10 saves while handling multi-inning outings and occasional opener duties. His 84 innings ranked 12th in the majors among pitchers who made at least 80% of their appearances in relief.
Then there was Peters, whose year has read like a baseball fable. Milwaukee drafted him in the seventh round in 2021, and he changed organizations twice before reaching the majors with Tampa Bay in 2025. He went hitless in four games, was designated for assignment last December, and joined the White Sox for cash. The 26-year-old rookie responded with 3.6 Baseball-Reference WAR, a .774 OPS and 12 home runs. Along the way came an All-Star selection, a cycle, a five-game homer streak and another unlikely chapter for a former Savannah Bananas player.
Grichuk supplied a more specialized, equally useful jolt. The 35-year-old began the season with the Yankees, was designated for assignment at the end of April, and signed with Chicago on May 4. Against left-handed pitching, among hitters with at least 100 plate appearances, he ranked fourth in wRC+ at 181, second in OPS at 1.025 and tied for ninth with 11 home runs.
That collection of arrivals, returns and developmental victories is why the White Sox are not simply enjoying a surprising season. They have remade the roster in a hurry, built enough pitching to survive the schedule, found thump throughout the lineup and given a franchise that had spent three years absorbing losses a meaningful October assignment.
