The White Sox’s miserable start to the 2024 season is starting to look historically bad.
On Monday night, they lost 2-0 to the Kansas City Royals. It marked the sixth time this season they’ve been held scoreless, which ties them with the 1907 Brooklyn Superbas for the most shutouts in the first 16 games of the season, according to Codify Baseball. They’ve been shut out once in all six series they’ve played this season.
The only teams in MLB history to be shut out 6 times in the first 16 games of a regular season:
1907 Brooklyn Superbas
2024 Chicago White Sox pic.twitter.com/B33Myik7Sb— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) April 16, 2024
The loss dropped the Sox to 2-14. According to a search on Stathead, they are one of just 10 teams to start a season with that exact record. Only four teams post-1907 have had a worse start through 16 games: the 1988 Baltimore Orioles (0-16), the 2003 Detroit Tigers, 1992 Kansas City Royals and 1969 Cleveland Indians (all 1-15). Two teams (the 1907 Superbas and the 1904 Senators) went 1-14-1.
The White Sox have scored just 34 runs this season, the fewest in baseball by a considerable margin, and have the worst run differential at -53. They are tied with the 1907 St. Louis Cardinals for the 16th fewest runs scored through the first 16 games of a season, according to Stathead.
In 2021, the Sox were the toast of baseball with Tim Anderson hitting a walkoff homer into the corn at the Field of Dreams. They won their division for the first time since 2008, but ever since it’s been a hard fall to the bottom.
The Sox were expected to be one of the worst teams in baseball this season, coming off a 101-loss season that saw chairman Jerry Reinsdorf fire his two long-tenured front-office executives, Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn.
At the press conference last season announcing the promotion of Chris Getz to the GM role, Reinsdorf said, “We want to get better as fast as we possibly can. If I went outside (the Sox front office), it would have taken anybody at least a year to evaluate the organization. I could have brought Branch Rickey back. It would have taken him a year to evaluate the organization.”
Getz is no Rickey, but he went on to try to fill holes on the cheap, stressing defense over offense for position players. And with injuries to Yoán Moncada, Eloy Jiménez and Luis Robert, the team’s lack of offensive punch is jarring. (The defense has had its issues as well.)
On Monday, the team managed four hits, all singles, with two coming from Andrew Benintendi, who raised his average to .169. Jiménez was activated off the injured list and pinch-hit with one on and two outs in the ninth, but he struck out to end the game.
But maybe help is on the way. After the game, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal confirmed that the team and Tommy Pham had agreed on a contract for the rest of the season.
Tommy Pham minor-league deal with White Sox is complete. He will earn $3M in the majors with $1.5M in incentives. Must be added to roster by April 25, or can request his release. Also will receive $500K if traded. First: @juanctoribio.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) April 16, 2024
The other good news Monday was prospect Nick Nastrini (acquired in last year’s deadline fire sale from the Dodgers) made his major-league debut, throwing five innings. He gave up two runs, but like it’s been for most White Sox opponents, two runs was all Kansas City needed to win.
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(Photo: Jamie Sabau / Getty Images)
