Things have finally started to look up for the Chicago White Sox in Year Two of the Chris Getz rebuild, at least according to Getz.
Not in wins, of course.
“Going into the year, the focus wasn’t just primarily on the record because we knew that there are so many things that go into improving this organization long term,” Getz, the general manager, said Monday before the start of a six-game homestand.
Good thing, because the Sox entered the three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday at 25-53, on pace to lose 110 games. That’s marginally better than last year’s team, which set a modern major-league record with 121 losses.
But relatively speaking, things were looking brighter.
The Sox were coming off a series win in Toronto, just their second road series win of the season. Shane Smith, who started Monday night’s game, could be the best Rule 5 draft pick in Sox history. And the Sox seemingly found a bona fide closer in Grant Taylor, the rookie with a 102 mph fastball whom the Sox converted from being a starter at the beginning of the season in Double-A Birmingham.
“There are a lot of things to highlight,” Getz said, specifically mentioning those two players, and Chase Meidroth and Miguel Vargas, along with “our chase rates, our walk percentage …”
I hadn’t realized the Sox had significantly improved in those two areas, and had to confirm it in the press box with the help of my stats whisperers. The Sox’s O-Swing% — the percentage of swings outside the strike zone — went from No. 27 (30.7%) in 2024 to No. 9 (27.3%) in the first half of this season. And their walk percentage, which ranked 27th last year (6.7%), has improved to 12th (9.0%).
Surprisingly, Getz did not mention that the 2025 Sox were still last in hitting with a .221 average, the same as last year, when they also finished last. They also ranked at the bottom in runs scored in ’24 (507), but were up to No. 28 (272) this year.
Baby steps.
It’s going to take more than an improved chase rate and a higher walk percentage to get Sox fans to completely buy into the rebuild, which is evident in the attendance, which ranked 27th at 16,805 per game.
During the Rick Hahn rebuild from 2017-21, they never averaged fewer than 20,000 except for the pandemic year of 2020, when there were no fans at all. Back then, the Sox successfully hyped the first steps of their top prospects, including Yoán Moncada, Lucas Giolito, Michael Kopech, Eloy Jiménez, Luis Robert Jr. and Dylan Cease, whose debuts were all treated like milestones in the Hahn rebuild. By the time the Sox turned the corner in ’20, those core players were all well known by Sox fans and contributed to the early optimism.
Getz’s rebuild hasn’t been able to follow the same script. While the Sox’s roster now includes Meidroth, Kyle Teel and Wikelman González — three of the four prospects acquired in last winter’s Garrett Crochet deal — the anticipation for their call-ups paled in comparison to the start of the careers of Kopech, Jiménez or the others. The fourth player in the Crochet deal — outfielder Braden Montgomery — could bring that kind of attention, but he’s still at High-A Winston-Salem and has a ways to go before his major-league debut.
Taylor’s recent call-up was a good call by Getz, but the Sox couldn’t capitalize on it by making his debut a must-see event. If Taylor was still starting, the call-up of a pitcher who can reach 102 mph would have had Sox fans crowding the bullpen before his start to watch him warm up, as they famously did for Kopech in 2018. The Sox announced that night they had about 8,000 in walk-up sales for Kopech’s debut. On Monday, they would’ve been lucky to get 8,000 to watch the Sox-Diamondbacks in the oppressive heat.
Maybe Hagen Smith or Noah Schultz will someday get the Kopech treatment, but Smith was sent to Arizona due to elbow soreness and for some biomechanical tweaking, and Schultz was just promoted to Triple-A Charlotte. Getz said Smith’s soreness is gone and he’s being built up to continue at Birmingham, while Schultz needs to get “comfortable” at Charlotte before the Sox consider bringing him up.
Taylor’s promotion from Double A should give Hagen Smith reason for optimism. Taylor posted his first save on Sunday in Toronto, after being used as an opener on Friday.
“I think it’s more and more common,” Taylor said of skipping Triple A. “(Jairo) Iriarte and Drew Thorpe both went from Birmingham to here, and Brooks Baldwin, too. It’s becoming more common, how organizations are using their talent.”
Taylor’s long-term future might be as a starter, but the Sox aren’t saying.
“I’m focused on being in relief, finishing games or throwing in the seventh or eighth innings, just doing my job,” Taylor said. “We’ve talked about (starting) being a possibility come spring training. Come the offseason, that’ll be my job to prepare for that.”
Sox fans can envision a future rotation with Smith, Schultz and Taylor leading the way, but not yet. For now, they’ll have to muster up some excitement for Adrian Houser and Aaron Civale, both of whom should be dealt at the trade deadline for more prospects.
Getz said Monday he probably wouldn’t include any of the core players in trades.
“I like the group that we have here,” he said.
Someone noted that was the exact opposite of what Getz said at the 2023 GM meetings: “I don’t like our team.”
Well, that’s an improvement.
Maybe the Sox’s luck will turn around. The Rockies are on pace for 125 losses, which would break the record of the ’24 Sox and remove them from the record books.
“I don’t focus on that too much,” Getz said of the Rockies’ woes. “You feel for an organization that’s going through that. For us, we felt like it provided a lot of clarity and direction for where we needed to head, so I hope they can do the same.”
One of the local cameramen then took it upon himself to halt the news conference after 25 minutes to get out of the 98-degree heat.
We applauded him. At some point, the Sox rebuild has to be more about winning than talking about O-Swing percentage.