WASHINGTON -- Pick up the topic of the 2025 White Sox and a few words immediately jump to mind following their 8-0 victory to close out the current campaign Sunday afternoon at Nationals Park.
Let’s start with optimism. Add on confidence and belief, work in fun and entertaining, and close with important experience gained, all centered on this young core getting their first taste of full-time Major League life in many cases.
All of those thoughts give the White Sox (60-102) hope, even after a third straight 100-loss season. Hope, in part, that the right process for development has been put in place by general manager Chris Getz, manager Will Venable and their respective staffs. But hope and process won’t guarantee wins.
So the next step for the White Sox, even in the midst of an extended rebuild, is to turn these positives into more consistent on-field success.
“Expectations coming into next year is to continue to push this thing forward,” assistant general manager Josh Barfield told MLB.com prior to Saturday’s loss. “There’s no moral victories in this game. In the end, it comes down to wins and losses.
“You come into the year, and the goal is to win. I think we’ll see the strides that some of these guys are able to make next year. We’ll be able to add to this team in the offseason.”
Where will the White Sox add? Although it’s too early to speculate on direction and budget available to spend outside the all-important in-house core, Barfield pointed to the bullpen as one definitive area of focus.
The White Sox watched an 8-1 lead evaporate on Friday, although Colson Montgomery’s ninth-inning home run allowed them to grab victory from defeat, and then, Chicago held a 4-0 lead on Saturday before eventually losing, 6-5. The South Siders went 15-36 in games decided by one run and 8-22 in those decided by two runs in 2025.
Little things mean a great deal in those close games. But so does a stronger overall relief corps.
Grant Taylor, Mike Vasil and Jordan Leasure have exhibited high-leverage, late-inning prowess, assuming Taylor doesn’t move into a starting role in 2026. The White Sox rotation, facing limitations from individual innings highs across the board in ‘25, can be pushed harder at full health next season, as Barfield explained and starter Davis Martin agreed.
“One hundred percent. It was frustrating for us who want to throw 180 innings, be [Giants ace] Logan Webb, [Red Sox starter] Garrett Crochet, those guys who go out and make 32 or 33 starts,” Martin said. “We did a good job of getting a good workload in, but being smart and protective of the guys.
“[Head athletic trainer James] Kruk has said bear with us this year and we’ll let you loose next year. Next year, cut it loose and go be those guys.”
Help from within also could aid in relief.
“I definitely think the bullpen is a big area. We are kind of evaluating that market,” Barfield said. “I think you’ve seen it from some of the teams that have made late pushes this year in the playoff race. Young players come up and get opportunities to contribute.
“We are excited about this group that we had come up this year. We are excited about the group behind them that has a chance to touch it next year.”
Shane Smith finished an All-Star rookie campaign on Sunday with 5 1/3 perfect innings before yielding the only Nationals hit, eight strikeouts over six innings (73 pitches) and a 3.81 ERA. He led the White Sox with 146 1/3 innings and 145 strikeouts.
Miguel Vargas launched a two-run first-inning homer, his 16th, to extend his hitting streak to nine games, while Brooks Baldwin went deep in the fourth and drove in three. The power-packed Montgomery pushed his hit streak to 10. They were a few of the many players listed by Barfield as reasons for optimism exiting a season with 12 losses in 15 games, but 18 series wins.
Uncertainty around the roster, the upcoming prospects, was the prevailing theme coming into the 2025 campaign. The White Sox exit with a defined, encouraging base, but a need to move forward.
“These guys are starting to believe and they are going to come in with the expectation next season that we have a chance to go out there and be a team nobody wants to play,” Barfield said. “You look up at the end of the season and see where that puts you.
"There are a lot of pieces here. You are starting to feel it. You talk to a lot of guys here, they are starting to get that belief that we can turn this thing around and they can be part of something special."