Despite relatively high levels of offseason optimism, the White Sox find themselves at an 8-14 record going into late April, on pace for a disappointing 59 wins. While most Sox fans didn’t expect a playoff team, many were hoping for a significant leap in 2026, maybe something to the tune of 75-80 victories.
Things look bad on the surface, yes. But there are many real positive signs happening in the organization. Some are way down in the farm system and bode well for a competitive 2027 or 2028 team, sure, but most are at or near the MLB level. Given these, there’s still reason to believe the Sox can flirt with a .500 record by the end of 2026.
Before delving into individual outputs, we can take some positives from recent team results. Ignoring the Brewers and Marlins series to kick off the season (that’s asking a lot, I’m aware), the South Siders are 7-9 in their last 16 games with a run differential of just -2. The ship has largely been righted after a disastrous start, with Kyle Teel and Austin Hays returning to the squad soon, too.
Moreover, if we use xwOBA to account for batted ball luck and approximate how well the team has truly performed overall, the Sox place 22nd in hitting and 23rd in pitching. Not ideal, sure, but an indisputable improvement over last season. For the record, if we somewhat foolishly dare again to remove the Brewers and Marlins series, the White Sox are dead middle in the league in xWOBA (batting) and xERA (pitching).
Now for the fun part, let’s get into the details. Here are the biggest positive developments thus far in 2026, ranked by order of importance.
1. Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith Shoving
By far the most encouraging overall storyline right now is lefty duo Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith making massive strides. Their arcs have been shockingly parallel, and now both are trending up after shaky 2025 campaigns.
Smith’s central issue was yielding free passes, and Sox fans should be elated to see that his walk rate has fallen from 17.6% to 9.6% so far in 2026. His gaudy strikeout numbers have actually gotten better somehow, too (36.9% currently). Look for him to don the black and white pinstripes before June rolls around.
Schultz, meanwhile, got healthy and commanded Triple-A for three starts before getting the call. Despite some early nerves, he looks promising through two big league starts. This duo is massive for both the short and long-term success of the franchise, and the arrow is pointing straight up for both.
2. Munetaka Murakami – South Side Superstar
It was difficult not to put MLB’s most talked-about newcomer first on this list. Murakami has been nothing short of electric in his first 22 MLB games, sporting a .208/.376/.542 line to go with eight homers and even juicier advanced stats (.416 xwOBA vs .395 wOBA).
The South Side’s emerging superstar is striking out plenty, as we all expected. Yet he’s made the absolute most of his other at-bats, running a stupidly high 21.2% walk rate and a stupidly low 19.0% outside-zone swing rate that forces pitchers to have to attack him. Murakami has already accumulated 0.8 fWAR, more than a third of the way to the 2.2 that many projection systems had him pegged for.
3. Barons Bash Brothers
Multiple publications placed Braden Montgomery suspiciously low or even off their Top 100 prospect lists pre-season. The fresh 23-year-old decided to celebrate his birthday week by gifting the haters a big fat load of ‘dem apples, winning Southern League Player of the Week honors after racking up five doubles, two triples, a homer, and seven RBI.
Montgomery now owns a 1.211 OPS and 193 wRC+ on the campaign, and a promotion to Triple-A feels just a week or two away. Next to him in the Barons outfield, meanwhile, Sammy Zavala has found a power surge and bashed four bombs as just a 21-year-old. Zavala, new to Double-A, has much longer to go before thinking about the major leagues, but could easily make a case for a September call-up at this pace.
4. Bullpen Firepower
Grant Taylor is still getting unlucky like last season, but not as unlucky, so that’s cool. Overall, the imposing right-hander is poised for a big year with a 33.3 K%, improved walk rate, and 2.71 xERA.
Then there’s Sean Newcomb, who is shaping up to be Will Venable‘s top lefty option out of the pen. Newcomb is inducing lots of ground balls and avoiding walks and barrels, adding up to a smooth 2.95 xERA.
Lastly, to the surprise of many, perhaps, Jordan Hicks might just be okay. He can’t find the zone or strike anyone out to save his life, but is generating so much soft contact that his xERA is an adequate 3.36.
I’m not arguing that the bullpen has been encouraging overall. Seranthony Dominguez and Jordan Leasure are floundering, and I’m skeptical of any southpaws outside Newcomb. But there’s potential for a real solid core, especially with Wikelman Gonzalez impressing in Triple-A to date.
5. Hidden Gem, Everson Pereira?
There’s not much to say here other than this dude is raking. It very well may be a “Linsanity run” to start the campaign, seeing as Pereira has just 41 plate appearances so far and is chasing out of the zone way too often. But a finally-healthy, 25-year-old former top prospect barreling everything with good bat speed is as good a candidate for a career resurgence as any.
6. Infield Trio Finding Their Footing
Anyone watching the games can see Miguel Vargas has been recording a lot of hard outs, and the predictive metrics back it up. The third baseman is showcasing elite plate discipline and an above-average barrel rate, adding up to a respectable 59th percentile xwOBA. Don’t give up on Miggy, Sox fans!
Then there’s Colson Montgomery, who might just whiff frequently throughout his whole career, but is proving what many doubted—he’s a bona fide slugger. The advanced metrics are still subpar overall, but five homers on the year, steady defense, and a hot bat of late paint a bright picture.
Lastly, we come around to short king Chase Meidroth, whose improvement at the plate is subtle but not small by any means. His OPS has risen 35 points to .684 in 2026, and a tinge of bad luck means his xwOBA is actually 52nd percentile right now. That and a decent glove might be just enough to stick at second base for the long haul.
Honorable Mentions
Caleb Bonemer has to be discussed even though he’s far away from the majors. The powerful infielder, whom many consider to be the South Siders’ top prospect, is rocking a .269/.381/.654 line with High-A Winston-Salem at just 20 years old. He’s displaying true “face of the franchise” talent right now.
I also have to talk about Chicago’s starting rotation. Three out of the four mainstays have an ERA under four, to the surprise of many. However, there’s a mixed bag of results here between standard and predictive stats, and with just three or four starts under each pitcher’s belt, it’s just too early to assert much. Props to them for limiting runs on the whole, though!
All in all, it’s simply too early to write 2026 off as another failure. We are only 22 games in, and even nerd stats can’t be trustworthy benchmarks this early into a season. In a weak division, the White Sox still have everything to play for in front of them and numerous bright spots to provide hope for the months-long grind.
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Featured Photo: © Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
