CHICAGO -- The White Sox have been one of the true positive surprise stories within the 2026 Major League Baseball season.
They have been a fun diamond tale on top of the surprise, from their nine walk-off victories to Mike Vasil’s magic to the sushi pops sold at Rate Field to the Pope Hat giveaway this Tuesday. But with 47 games left as of Saturday, that good feeling has turned into a genuine playoff push.
General manager Chris Getz understands the gravity of the situation, trying for the organization’s first American League Central title since 2021. Getz acknowledged the late-season turn during a pregame media session Friday, but doesn’t want his young team to change down the stretch.
“As players and as an organization you’ve got to remember what got us here,” Getz said. “There was a bit of just baseball purity and innocence and, ‘Let’s go out there and just play and have fun.’ And now all of a sudden you start paying attention to the standings or what another team is doing, it’s a bit of a distraction.
“It’s my job, it’s [manager Will Venable’s] job, it’s the coaching staff’s job, certainly players in the clubhouse, to remind themselves what has gotten us here. And that’s part of playing meaningful games in August and September, it really is. This is uncharted territory for a lot of guys in this clubhouse, and we hope to just keep everyone focused looking forward and not reflecting back or getting ahead of themselves.”
Part of that plan involves keeping an eye on innings totals as these young pitchers reach new single-season highs, with Noah Schultz, Friday’s starter, being in that category. The same holds true for Grant Taylor, who threw 40 pitches during Chicago's 12-11 loss in 13 back-and-forth innings on Thursday, and is considered a prime bullpen weapon for the White Sox.
David Sandlin (the club’s No. 7 prospect) joined the team Friday and was ready to go where needed. Jonathan Cannon, Hagen Smith (No. 2 prospect) and Tanner McDougal (No. 4) are a few hurlers at Triple-A Charlotte who could be helping the White Sox in the near 2026 future.
“We’ve got some flexibility to make adjustments if need be, going to the motivation in making another pitching acquisition like a Luis Castillo, was keeping in mind these young starters,” Getz said. “We are going to need a lot of different arms to help us navigate these innings throughout the season.
“What the rotation and bullpen, what’s that going to look like come September, it’s certainly an unknown. Other than the fact we are going to have to grab arms from Triple-A and get creative throughout this.”
Joey Bart, a catcher acquired just hours before Monday’s Trade Deadline, is now sidelined for at least a month with a fifth metacarpal fracture in his left hand. There’s hope both Bart and Kyle Teel, out of action with a high left ankle sprain, will be on-field parts of this team before the campaign comes to a close.
Edgar Quero rejoined the White Sox and was behind the plate to work with Schultz on Friday. But the catching situation will remain fluid, according to Getz, as it has all season.
Getz is being viewed as an executive of the year candidate, although he’s not too far removed from being questioned about knowing what he was doing at the helm when his team was losing 100-plus games in three straight seasons. So, Getz doesn’t get too caught up in possible accolades, aside from the confidence gained and confirmation that their process is working.
“We're always looking for opportunities to fuel this clubhouse and we're going to continue to do so,” Getz said. “You look at all the decisions that have been made, the decision-making process, we feel like it's led to a lot of positive outcomes. It hasn't been perfect, we're not trying to be perfect. We're willing to take risks.
“More than anything, this team continues to show up and win baseball games and we're finally getting to the point where objectively, we're in position to win more baseball games. We've continued to raise the floor, we'll continue to push the ceiling and looking for opportunities to continue to fuel this team."
This weekend’s lone goal is beating the Guardians, aside from enjoying Ozzie Guillen’s No. 13 jersey retirement before Saturday’s contest.
“One game at a time,” Getz said. “I know it’s a cliché but it’s a real thing with this group, to go out there and try to win tonight. And if we don’t win, we strap it back on and go ahead and win tomorrow, hopefully win a series.”