2024 Chicago White Sox
There are bad teams every year. But historically bad teams are rare. Usually there is a very good reason for teams that are not just bad, but putrid. We handwave expansion teams because it's hard to win with a freshly assembled team of castoffs with no chemistry. This is why that for the longest time that the 1962 Mets and their 120 losses are understandable. During their run as the worst all time there have been a few notable contenders, including the 1998 Marlins who were bad as a result of cheap ownership committing a fire sale after a World Series title, and the 2003 Tigers who came within 1 loss of tying the record. In 2024, the record for losses finally fell as the poorly constructed Chicago White Sox failed their way into history.
Chicago didn't waste time starting the season in historically bad fashion; their 3-22 record out of the gate was their worst in franchise history, and tied for the worst in the Wild Card era. Only the 1988 Orioles had a more dismal start. They soon set a new franchise record with a 14 game losing streak, later that year broken by a new streak of failure that ultimately reached 21. By game 109 they had already locked up a losing season with their 82nd loss, the quickest in MLB history.
The failure records continued as the White Sox set new lows for fastest playoff elimination (August 17) and fastest to 100 losses (game #131). During such failure, it's rare that leadership is spared from scrutiny as Manager Pedro Grifol was fired and replaced by Grady Sizemore, but no Manager could slow down this disaster.
After passing the Tigers for the AL loss record, they fittingly played Detroit on September 27 to a depressing 4-1 defeat, officially putting them lower than the 1962 Mets and locking in the Southsiders as the biggest losers in baseball history. With 2 games still to play in the season, there was a chance for the White Sox to add to their record, but they managed to win out, and end the year at 41-121.
It went without saying that the White Sox finished in last place. They were 51.5 games behind the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central, 45 games out of the Wild Card race, 22 games worse than the Los Angeles Angels for the bottom of the American League and 20 games lower than the Colorado Rockies for the worst record in baseball...for the record, they were also 57 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best record in baseball.
So every team needs to have a representative in the all star game, even the bad ones. Garrett Crochet was that all star, which isn't saying much with his 6-12 record. He did lead the pitching with a respectable 209 Strikeouts.
Fedde was the team "leader" with 7 Wins and a 3.11 ERA. He was the only regular Starter with a winning record with only 4 Losses. The other Starters with over 100 Innings had 10+.
The other Starters. Flexen led with 160 Innings...and 15 Losses. Michael Soroka could have topped that. He started the year in the rotation and went 0-5 before being banished to the bullpen in May. He ultimately went 0-10, but one can only assume how bad it could have been if he was left in the rotation.
The Bot requires 10 Saves for a Reliever to upgrade to the Closer status. As you can see, Kopech did not earn that title, but his 9 Saves was the best anyone on the White Sox could do. This wasn't a full season effort from Michael, as he was traded off to the Dodgers at the deadline where he'd get 6 more Saves for the eventual champions.
All other pitchers. Lots of guys who were late season call-ups or traded away when things went south.
Not a lot of highlight worthy players on offense either. Vaughn led the team with 140 Hits, 70 RBI and 55 Runs.
Benintendi was the top Home Run hitter with just 20 long balls.
Lenyn Sosa perfectly summed up Chicago's historically bad 2024 season when he took a thrown ball to the face while not having any situational awareness.
Other lineup regulars, some of which did not end the season in a White Sox uniform. Robert Jr. swiped a team high 23 Stolen Bases.
Off the bench. Not a whole lot of heavy charts or high on-bases around, as expected to a 121 loss squad.
Usually when a team is getting blown out, it's normal to see a position player sent out to finish the game on the mound and save the bullpen some work. I'm shocked that the 2024 White Sox only utilized this situation for just 1 inning all year, as bench player Danny Mendick went out to pitch. His chart and control shows he'd fit in just fine with the rest of his bullpen. He surrendered a couple hits but allowed no runs to give him a perfect 0.00 ERA.
