Despite Offensive Struggles, White Sox Confident They Can Turn The Corner

For the second consecutive year, offense has been hard to come by for the White Sox. Through the first 23 games, they rank 28th in runs scored, averaging just a little over three per game.

Fans entered the season with low expectations, but at this current rate, the team is on pace to have even worse offensive numbers than the 2024 squad that lost a MLB record 121 games. The 2024 White Sox owned a .221 batting average, .278 OBP, .340 slugging percentage, and .618 OPS. However, the 2025 White Sox have yet to clear that bar, with a .196 batting average, .270 OBP, .305 slugging percentage, and .575 OPS. 

Injuries have certainly taken a toll, with Andrew Benintendi, Korey Lee, Mike Tauchman, and Austin Slater all spending time on the injured list. However, the bigger issue lies with the players the White Sox expected to anchor the offense, who simply haven’t delivered.

Andrew Vaughn is batting just .145 with a .461 OPS, while Miguel Vargas is hitting .139 and striking out nearly 26% of the time. To make matters worse, Luis Robert Jr. has also gotten off to a cold start, hitting .151—a number that, remarkably, still ranks second among qualified White Sox hitters.

Tuesday night’s 4-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins was yet another example of the White Sox’s ongoing offensive woes. Entering the game ranked 29th in MLB in batting average with runners in scoring position, the South Siders did little to reverse that trend, going 0-for-8 with a sacrifice fly and leaving nine men on base. Most frustratingly, seven of those were stranded in scoring position.

Despite their struggles, the White Sox still had a chance to steal the win. With two outs and the bases loaded, Andrew Benintendi ripped a ball into the gap off Twins closer Jhoan Duran. It looked like a game-tying hit off the bat, but Byron Buxton, a former Platinum Glove winner, had other plans. The Twins’ center fielder raced it down with a full-extension catch to seal the win and crush the White Sox’s hopes.

Despite the loss, Benintendi was proud of the team’s effort. 

“It’s not over ‘til it’s over,” Beintendi told reporters after the game. “When you’re facing a guy in the ninth down three, it’s easy to kind of fold and just say, ‘We’ll get ‘em tomorrow.’ But we put ourselves in a position to tie it up, and we just didn’t get it done.” 

Staying competitive in games they seemingly have no business winning has become a recurring theme for the White Sox this season. Still, manager Will Venable remains optimistic, believing it’s only a matter of time before the team starts capitalizing on more of those opportunities with runners on base.

“These guys have been working incredibly hard and they’ve put themselves in a good position to take good swings,” Venable told reporters on Tuesday. “It’s going to turn here. We’ve got to keep continuing to fight.”