The Chicago White Sox have made a regrettable kind of history. With a fitting 14-2 loss to the Red Sox on Thursday night, the White Sox pushed their current losing streak to 14 games, which breaks a tie with the 1924 club and sets the franchise record for consecutive defeats. They were out-hit in the record-setting game by a margin of 24-4.
Overall, the Sox have lost 18 of their last 19 and haven’t won consecutive games since May 14-15 against the Nationals. Their latest loss drops the White Sox to 15-48 on the season. That .238 winning percentage puts them on pace for 123 losses, which would set the modern record for losses in a season. Additionally, the White Sox have what’s easily the worst run differential in MLB at minus-152. Next worst is the Colorado Rockies at minus-96. Even though it’s early June, Chicago is already 26 games out in the American League Central and 19 games out of the final AL wild-card spot.
Coming off a 101-loss season in 2023, expectations were low for the White Sox, especially after ace Dylan Cease was traded away to the Padres during spring training. Even so, not one expected the South Siders to reach their current depths. While Pedro Grifol’s club has not surprisingly been bad at everything having anything to do with baseball, the offense stands out as the main offender. Right now, the Sox are the only team who’s yet to score 200 runs on the season, and as a team they’re batting .216/.277/.336. Of potential note is that the record for lowest team batting average across a full season is .211 by, coincidentally, the 1910 White Sox.
Hard as it is to ponder, the White Sox could get even worse leading up to the trade deadline, as general manager Chris Getz is reportedly willing to listen on names like Luis Robert Jr. and Garrett Crochet. Erick Fedde is also expected to draw interest leading up to the July 30 deadline.
In the here and now, the White Sox will be back in Boston on Friday night and at risk of seeing that record losing streak reach 15 games. The MLB record for most consecutive losses is 23 set by the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies.
