The White Sox have officially been eliminated from the playoffs. It was more of a formality at this point, as most fans knew the season was over after a deflating sweep at the hands of Cleveland Guardians. The players seemed to know it, too, because they have yet to show up since their 10-7 extra-inning loss on September 20th.
The White Sox elimination number entering Wednesday night was two. An 8-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins put the nail in the coffin on the White Sox playoff hopes. The loss marks their eighth in a row, tying a season-high.
It was a fitting end to one of the most disappointing seasons in White Sox history.
The White Sox loaded the bases while trailing 6-4 in the seventh inning. Eloy Jimenez, the team’s hottest hitter, stepped into the box with a chance to give the White Sox the lead. Instead, he grounded into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. The Twins tagged on two more runs off the White Sox’s high-priced bullpen, and that was all she wrote.
This comes just one day after the White Sox were shut out by a Twins team that has a staff ERA of 4.03, which ranks 19th in the MLB. Not only did the White Sox fail to produce a run they recorded just two hits.
“I think we definitely didn’t play up to our abilities,” Dylan Cease told reporters on Sunday in one of the most obvious statements of the year. “I’d really have to take a step back and look at it.”
After winning 93 games a year ago, the White Sox failed to get six games above .500 at any point in the season. You can use injuries as an excuse, but the 2021 White Sox were arguably more snake bitten in the injury department and didn’t let that stop them.
PECOTA, who is historically conservative with their predictions, pegged the White Sox to win 95 games before the year. But the 2022 squad was just different. They played with a sense of entitlement and didn’t handle adversity well.
As Lance Lynn so eloquently put it:
“Nothing surprises you. Especially when you play like shit all year. We’ve been six games out all year, it seems like.”
Their offense sits 16th in on-base percentage, 18th in runs scored, 22nd in home runs, and 29th in walks. But they can hang their hat on the fact they slapped together a ton of meaningless singles which allowed them to be second in hits and third in batting average. The White Sox defense also produced the third most errors in baseball and ranked 28th in fielding percentage.
The White Sox have had bad season’s in the past but never before have they entered a year with such high expectations only to fall flat on their face. The rallying cry before the season was World Series or bust. Now they are struggling to get to .500. It was so bad that the fun-loving team we know from the previous three seasons transformed into an unlikeable bunch of losers.
The White Sox have seven games left to limp to the finish line. Four more against the Twins, in what was supposed to be the marquee matchup to decide the division back in June, and three against the Padres. The White Sox need to win five of seven if they want to avoid a losing record this season. But let’s be honest, this team has earned the shame of a losing record in the history books. The 2022 White Sox will forever be known as one of the most disappointing teams in Chicago sports history.
