History doesn’t bode well for struggling White Sox originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Chicago White Sox came into the 2023 season with high hopes, but injuries and poor play have combined to leave them nine games under .500 just 23 games into the campaign.
The team has now lost five consecutive games, including all four on a road trip that has taken them to Tampa Bay and Toronto, with their latest defeat coming in a 5-2 setback Monday night in Canada.
While there are still plenty of games left to be played, 139 to be exact, the fact remains that the White Sox are digging themselves an early hole, already finding themselves 5.5 games behind the Minnesota Twins in the American League Central.
If their franchise history is any indication, then they’ll need a bounce back of historic proportions just to make the postseason.
In the 11 seasons the White Sox have made the playoffs, they have never been more than eight games under the .500 mark, according to Baseball Reference. That occurred during the 1983 season, when the team was 16-24 on May 26.
After that date, the team was able to go 83-39 the rest of the way, winning the American League West crown before losing in the American League Championship Series to the Baltimore Orioles.
Outside of that, the only other time the Sox had come back from even five games under .500 came in the 1906 season, when they won the American League pennant and beat the Cubs in the World Series.
In more recent history, the White Sox were three games under .500 in 2020 before coming back to reach the postseason, and three games under on May 13 during the 2008 season.
The White Sox will hope to reverse their fortunes in coming weeks as they get key players back into the mix, including shortstop Tim Anderson, who is nearing a rehab stint for his sprained left knee. Closer Liam Hendriks is also working at the team’s Arizona facility as he continues to build up his strength after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma earlier this year.
Yoan Moncada is also out of action with back soreness, but it’s unclear when he will be back.
The Sox will send Mike Clevinger to the mound Tuesday in Toronto, with first pitch scheduled for 6:07 pm
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