{"id":651684,"date":"2026-03-30T02:33:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T02:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/651684\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T02:33:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T02:33:21","slug":"positive-takeaways-from-the-white-soxs-ugly-0-3-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/651684\/","title":{"rendered":"Positive Takeaways From the White Sox\u2019s Ugly 0-3 Start"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three games down, 159 to go\u2014and it might be another long season for Chicago White Sox<\/a> fans.<\/p>\n

The opening series of the 2026 regular season gave Sox fans everywhere a bitter reminder of the state of this organization and the seemingly inevitable fan experience that lies ahead for anyone choosing to tune in on a regular basis.<\/p>\n

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On Opening Day, it was a 14-1 blowout loss to the Milwaukee Brewers<\/a> while White Sox hitters struck out 20 times. On Saturday, it was another feeble offensive effort paired with poor defensive positioning and overall execution. Then on Sunday, just as it looked like the White Sox were finding their stride and giving the fan base a reason to believe, it all unraveled. A bullpen implosion and six runs allowed in the bottom of the eighth inning turned into a 9-7 loss\u2014and an 0-3 start.<\/p>\n

Now, most White Sox fans are probably feeling pretty sour about this team right now. And don\u2019t get me wrong\u2014you absolutely should be. My preseason prediction<\/a> for the White Sox was 68-94, and while things have admittedly been a bit worse than even I expected, the fact that many fans are setting the bar for success at 70 wins tells you everything you need to know about the current expectations and overall outlook for this season.<\/p>\n

That said, I\u2019ll do my best to offer at least a bit of a silver lining. The 0-3 record quite literally could not be any worse, and the way those games unfolded was about as miserable as it gets.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not all bad. As the Sox turn the page to a road series in Miami\u2014one that should present a more balanced matchup and, hopefully, more winnable games\u2014here are two positive takeaways from an otherwise miserable 0-3 start.<\/p>\n

For the most part, the young White Sox hitters with both upside and a lot riding on the 2026 season, have delivered.<\/p>\n

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Rookie first baseman Munetaka Murakami<\/a> has three home runs in as many games, showing that the elite power that helped him set a single-season home run record in Japan translates just fine to Major League Baseball. He\u2019s also drawn four walks in three games, and that plate discipline significantly raises his floor as a hitter.<\/p>\n

Colson Montgomery<\/a> got off to a rough start and didn\u2019t look sharp on Opening Day, but he\u2019s bounced back nicely. He went 3-for-10 in the opening series with a home run, two walks, and five RBIs\u2014all coming on Sunday. He also just missed a second home run late in that game. Early returns suggest he\u2019s going to continue driving the ball with authority while getting on base at a rate that makes him one of the more valuable young shortstops in the game.<\/p>\n

Miguel Vargas and Chase Meidroth<\/a> have also gotten off to strong starts, and even Everson Pereira flashed some intrigue on Sunday that\u2019s worth monitoring moving forward.<\/p>\n

Yes, you\u2019d like to see more from Edgar Quero and others in the everyday lineup. But it\u2019s worth noting that only two teams in baseball currently have more home runs than the White Sox\u2014and both have played an extra game. Chicago\u2019s .729 team OPS<\/a> ranks 13th in the league, which is a significant rebound from where things stood after Opening Day.<\/p>\n

It would be one thing if all of Chicago\u2019s best players looked completely overmatched, if things felt wildly out of character, or if the long-term outlook was suddenly in question.<\/p>\n

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But one of the more honest takeaways, if you\u2019re willing to look at it through a slightly optimistic lens, is that none of this is particularly surprising.<\/p>\n

As I laid out in my preseason predictions<\/a>, this White Sox pitching staff projects as one of the weakest in baseball. That\u2019s been evident early. The starting rotation<\/a> lacks reliable MLB-caliber depth, struggles to pitch deep into games, and that inevitably puts strain on the bullpen.<\/p>\n

And when the bullpen gets overworked, you get what happened on Sunday.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s fair to wonder where the innings are going to come from moving forward, and it\u2019s also fair to question whether things will improve in any meaningful way. But the reality is, the 2026 season was never truly about wins and losses. The White Sox made that clear with their approach this offseason.<\/p>\n

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This year is about raising the floor of the roster, identifying which young hitters are part of the future, trading veterans at the deadline, and continuing to develop prospects who can contribute at the big-league level sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

The White Sox are going to lose a lot of games. But as long as the offense shows real progress, things are still unfolding according to plan. If you want to watch good pitching, you should tune in to the White Sox minor league affiliates<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Many<\/a><\/p>\n

Many White Sox Prospects Dazzle in Minor League Season Opener<\/p>\n

Many White Sox Prospects Dazzle in Minor League Season Opener Sam Antonacci, Noah Schultz, and William Bergolla Jr. headline a dominant night as top White Sox prospects shine in Charlotte\u2019s season-opening blowout. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three games down, 159 to go\u2014and it might be another long season for Chicago White Sox fans. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":651685,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2379],"tags":[5,1001,138,49,2561,10448,458,10857,778,4154,59,4,73,47182,396,2562],"class_list":{"0":"post-651684","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-white-sox","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-chase-meidroth","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-white-sox","12":"tag-chicagowhitesox","13":"tag-colson-montgomery","14":"tag-edgar-quero","15":"tag-everson-pereira","16":"tag-miami","17":"tag-miguel-vargas","18":"tag-milwaukee-brewers","19":"tag-mlb","20":"tag-munetaka-murakami","21":"tag-sox-fans","22":"tag-white-sox","23":"tag-whitesox"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116315790928224382","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=651684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/651685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=651684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=651684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=651684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}