One game won't define season-long White Sox journey

This story was excerpted from Scott Merkin’s White Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

MILWAUKEE -- Call Chris Getz prophetic.

Or just read the following comment from the White Sox general manager’s extended pre-Opening Day media session on Wednesday, focused on fans seeing the fruits of this current rebuild amid the realism of a 162-game season.

“I would hope they are not going to judge it based on one game,” Getz said.

Yes, Opening Day at American Family Field was an overall forgettable one for the White Sox, a 14-2 loss finishing as bad as the score looks.

They opened with a 417-foot home run from Chase Meidroth on a 3-2 pitch from Brewers starter Jacob Misiorowski, setting off an understandable frenzied White Sox celebration. They closed with a solo homer in the ninth from Munetaka Murakami, a majestic blast to right by the free-agent first baseman who came over from Japan on a two-year, $34 million deal.

In between and after those homers, there were 20 strikeouts and just two infield hits. Murakami and Luisangel Acuña were the only two White Sox players who didn’t strike out.

Their pitching staff issued 10 walks against three strikeouts. It clearly wasn’t the plan of putting the ball in play and attacking the zone on the mound that was shared so many times by manager Will Venable.

But again, as Getz indicated, it’s one game over more than a six-month journey. It’s a journey rich with greater expectations for the White Sox.

“You want to look at once we get through this season, reflect back on what 2026 was for us,” Getz said. “Have a better idea of where we are in the development of this Major League club and the organization as a whole.

“So I do anticipate winning more games this year. We don’t focus on [the] win-and-loss record. We focus on winning the game that’s right in front of you. That’s what Will has established. We expect them to take the same approach this season.”

Winning the game in front of you means winning in the macro and micro ways for the White Sox. Working the count, but also attacking the fastball, as they did so well in the second half of last season. Stealing bases, hit and runs, bunts, solid defense across the diamond and always making full use of their roster.

This present 26-man alignment on March 28 might look different by May 1, let alone in June or July.

Left-handed pitchers Noah Schultz (No. 2 White Sox prospect and No. 49 overall, per MLB Pipeline) and Hagen Smith (No. 4 and No. 72) along with right-hander Tanner McDougal (No. 6) and infielder/outfielder Sam Antonacci (No. 9) began their season with Triple-A Charlotte on Friday. They aren’t far away from Major League Baseball contributions.

Players exited camp with a good feeling about this team, a close-knit unit confident in what stood ahead. I assessed that confidence with a couple of White Sox stalwarts leaving Spring Training, asking if it’s possible to go from 60-102 in 2025 to contending for the American League Central title in ’26.

“Yeah, I think so,” right-handed reliever Grant Taylor said. “Every single year, obviously everyone’s goal is to win a World Series. Whether that’s this year, the next year or the year after that, that’s what we are striving toward. That might be taking bigger steps and smaller steps at times. That’s going to be the goal.”

“One hundred percent,” said right-hander Sean Burke, who starts Game 2 tonight against the Brewers. “Everybody is on the same mission. Everybody believes. We are all pulling the same rope to do that. I know everybody here believes that. We are playing like, ‘Why not us?’”

White Sox fans are well-versed in rebuilds, having followed two extensive ones since the 2016 offseason. They embrace the process, even if it takes more than a few years of consistent setbacks. They have visions of Roch Cholowsky, Billy Carlson and Braden Montgomery dotting their baseball future along with this current talented big league core, not to mention the spending or trades to bring in key veterans needed to finish the rebuild.

Fans also want to see progress at some level. Getz invoked his “taking another meaningful step forward” mantra during his media session, a sentiment becoming as much the team slogan for ’26 as their building or carrying momentum idea.

Thursday’s Opening Day loss didn’t feature many of those steps. But the White Sox hope to look back in July or August on that one single game -- a point emphasized by catcher Edgar Quero after the 12-run loss -- shake their head and think about how much they have progressed.

“We're firm believers in that we're getting better each year,” shortstop Colson Montgomery said. “We're just going to keep getting better each day, each series, whatever it is. You can be judged a lot right now, but it doesn't really matter."