The White Sox punched their ticket to October on Thursday afternoon, putting away the Royals, 9-1, in Kansas City and turning a season built on young legs, timely swings and a stubborn refusal to fold into a postseason berth. The AL Central is still in play, but the larger turn is already official: Chicago is back in the playoffs for the first time since its 2021 division title.
The result
Chicago’s 9-1 win over Kansas City secured the club’s place in the field, a remarkable marker after three consecutive 100-loss seasons. The low point came in 2024, when the White Sox lost 121 games, a Modern Era record.
They have since become the first club to reach the postseason after suffering 100 or more losses in at least two straight years. They are also only the third team to make the playoffs in a full season immediately following a 100-loss campaign.
The turnaround has not been a straight-line ride. The White Sox have endured two losing skids of four games, but none longer. They also have not put together a winning streak beyond five games. That steady, unflashy rhythm has carried them through the schedule, alongside 204 team home runs and a clubhouse that has kept believing when the games tightened.
Manager Will Venable said the players’ faith in themselves and one another has been central to the climb. He pointed to difficult road settings at Yankee Stadium and Wrigley Field, as well as late-season pressure games, as moments when the club continued to hold its ground.
“They trust themselves and they trust each other,” Venable said. “That takes you a long way through different kinds of games. The postseason is its own challenge, but these meaningful games down the stretch have challenged them, too.”
Venable added that, regardless of where the season finishes, this group has shown uncommon confidence from the beginning.
A clubhouse that changed
Andrew Benintendi and Miguel Vargas are the only position players still on the roster from the White Sox club that finished the 2024 season. Both lived through the daily grind of a historic loss total, the repeated questions and the sense of another long night waiting at the ballpark.
Now they are part of a club enjoying the daily routine again.
“Everybody is close in here, and there really aren’t any egos,” Benintendi said. “Guys are excited to get to the field. In past years, when we were losing, it could feel like a long day before you even arrived. This year has been much more enjoyable. Players are comfortable, and they have more experience.”
Vargas said the distance traveled makes the clinching moment hit differently for him.
“It has been a long road, especially for me,” Vargas said. “I think that is why I can enjoy this one a little more.”
Benintendi’s view of the October challenge was simpler. The White Sox are confident, he said, and perhaps carefree enough to believe they can take the whole thing.
Quero’s early call
Catcher Edgar Quero saw pieces of this coming well before the 2025 season. Coming off the 121-loss year, he predicted improvement because of the energy in the organization and the young players who had already played together in the Minor Leagues.
Quero returned to that prediction during Spring Training and said the current roster is proving it was more than optimism. He noted that many of the players shared postseason experiences in the farm system and now form the foundation of the major league club.
His own season did not unfold as cleanly as his forecast. The switch-hitting catcher went from sharing time behind the plate with Kyle Teel to being left off the postseason roster. But Quero left his marks on the regular season, hitting a walk-off homer against Ryan Rolison and the Cubs at Rate Field on May 27 to clinch the Crosstown Series. He added a walk-off single against the Yankees on July 29.
Other contributors have come and gone, another reminder that Chicago’s strength has been bigger than any one player. Jose Urquidy, now with the Phillies, struck out eight Cubs across six scoreless innings at Wrigley Field on Aug. 19, preventing a sweep. Jacob Gonzalez, Chicago’s first-round selection in the 2023 Draft, drove in a walk-off winner against Kansas City on June 27 before he was dealt to the Pirates two weeks later.
The roster has changed around the edges, but the White Sox have held onto the larger idea: play the day in front of them, trust the man beside them, and keep the division race alive. Thursday’s 9-1 clincher ensured that October baseball is no longer a hope on the South Side. It is on the schedule.
