The South Side Column: The White Sox Need Some Urgency

The Sox are collapsing. They are struggling. This team is playing it's worst baseball at the wrong time. While things are still in their favor, the Pale Hose are on the brink of possibly not only just losing out on the division, but the playoffs altogether. However, despite how bleak it is, there should still be some optimism here.

First, let's take a look at the schedule. In the last 8 games, the Sox play Detroit twice, off day on 9/21, three against Kansas City, and then finish the season with three against Colorado. All three of those teams are terrible. All of those clubs are beatable. Yes, the Tigers came back to win last night despite being down 8-2, but the Sox should be able to beat them. The only series where the club might struggle is against the Royals on the road as we all know as fans of this team, they tend to struggle there. However, the Sox split the last road series there and overall have beaten Kansas City 7-3. Then against Detroit, the Pale Hose are also 7-3. The team has owned them this season. Yes, the Sox are 34-44 away, but they are 29-18 against the AL Central. The Rockies are also 56-98 and 1-9 in their last 10. Colorado is really atrocious and them being the last three games of the 2026 campaign could actually benefit the Sox in more ways than one. The Sox also have five more home games, which really helps too. Plus, having an off day after the weekend should help a lot giving players some rest as clearly they are getting tired, plus it could help how the Sox will set things up in the last six games in order to prepare for the end of the season. That being said, Detroit and Kansas City are chomping at the bits to spoil the Pale Hose's season.

Another thing to consider is the other teams in this playoff push who still have a chance at the Wild Card or Division: Texas, Baltimore, Toronto, and Cleveland. How three of these teams even have a chance is beyond me, but yet are pushing here. A great thing that might happen in this span of the race to the postseason is that theoretically, one team could be effectively eliminated this weekend. The Blue Jays and Rangers are playing one another and with Texas winning game one of the series, Sox fans should keep a close eye on this as this is effectively a playoff series. The Rangers are a game out of the last Wild Card spot that the Pale Hose currently hold and Blue Jays are two games back. If Texas sweeps, Toronto basically is out of contention. However, if the Sox don't take care of their own business and the Rangers sweep, then they take over that Wild Card spot. In this case, we as fans would want Toronto winning the next two games, because if the Pale Hose lose the next two matchups and the Blue Jays win those two, then both are tied and the Sox hold the tiebreaker 5-1. If Toronto wins the next two, then it also basically effectively ends the Rangers' season unless Texas wins out. Baltimore on the other hand is three games out, but they are 6-4 in their last 10 games. Yes, the Orioles losing their first six matchups in September hurt them a lot, but if they are hot, then anything can happen. Now looking at the schedules for all those three clubs, it's quite interesting. If anything, Baltimore is screwed as they have the hardest schedule ending their season as they have to face Milwaukee (which they lost to the Brewers in their first game of the series), then after that the Orioles play the Blue Jays which could make things interesting, and the last series they play is New York Yankees as the Bronx Bombers is one of the best teams in the American League. Realistically, Texas and Toronto have easier schedules, so those are the two sides Sox fans will have to keep an eye on the most. We already know the Blue Jays have to play both Baltimore and Rangers, but they also have to face Cincinnati. As for Texas, like already discussed are playing Toronto currently, but they also have to face the New York Mets and Minnesota. The Blue Jays could make things interesting playing both the Rangers and Orioles and I believe they are the most talented roster of the three, but Toronto could theoretically end both their postseason hopes.

Then there's Cleveland. Yes, the Pale Hose have the advantage with the tiebreaker, but the Guardians are one game ahead of them in the division. However, looking at their schedule, there is one series that makes things interesting. First, lets look at the teams that makes Cleveland's schedule easy and thats the Athletics and Royals. But, the Guardians still have to play Boston, who will be looking to beat them down and spoil their season as the Red Sox would like to avoid having to face Cleveland in a possible American League Championship Series matchup. If Boston wants to go to the World Series, then they will want to avoid the Guardians as much as possible, especially considering Cleveland having as good of a rotation and bullpen like they do. The Red Sox would rather face the Pale Hose in a possible ALCS matchup considering they swept the season series. That being said, Boston has the edge in the season series against the Guardians. Cleveland is 5-5 against Kansas City, but are 2-1 against the Athletics. Take that for what it is.

Finally, the other thing to look at is how both Houston and Texas do if one is leading the AL West. Both are tied for the lead at 77-77 (good lord thats bad, though the Astros own the season series against the Rangers), but both are pushing for the number two seed in the playoffs if they win the division. Both the Sox and Guardians have better records than both of those two, but Houston holds a series advantage over the Pale Hose and Cleveland. The Astros just lost to Atlanta, which is the hardest part of the end of their schedule. But after that, they have to play Seattle for two games and Athletics for four. So theoretically, Houston could win out, but are 2-9 against the Mariners and 4-5 against the Athletics in 2026. That is really remarkable to look at as if those trends continue, then the Astros might lose this. Texas on the other hand is 4-2 against the Guardians and 2-4 against the Pale Hose.

After reading all these situations and records, it's crazy. However, it all boils down to how the Sox do. They obviously control their own destiny, but with how terribly the team has played, the Pale Hose need to get a sense of urgency to finish the season. After looking at everything, it's hard to think that the Sox will miss the postseason, but also it is in their favor to win the division. Heck, it's hard to ignore for them to not only lock up the two seed. That being said, both the Pale Hose and Cleveland are likely to make the playoffs as a lot of the scenarios that were laid out in the Wild Card hunt that it would be absolutely wild for one of them to miss out on the postseason. It's easy to be optimistic here, but with the starters having an ERA above 6.00 lately, bullpen showing signs of being gassed, and the offense showing some inconsistencies, it's also easy to be pessimistic. But even in the pessimism, it's hard to think the team won't make it into the playoffs.