White Sox's Playoff Berth Both Long Overdue and Sooner Than Expected

The Chicago White Sox became the first American League team this year to clinch a postseason berth, marking the franchise's first playoff appearance since 2008.

José Abreu was living in Cuba and still more than five years away from signing his first major-league contract when the White Sox last made the playoffs. Now, after enduring six losing seasons in Chicago, the first baseman has led the South Siders to the postseason for the first time since 2008.

The White Sox became the first American League team this year to clinch a postseason berth when they beat the Twins, 4-3, Thursday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field on the South Side of Chicago. Abreu, a frontrunner to win the AL MVP award, went 2-for-3 with a solo home run (his 17th) in the fourth inning and a game-tying RBI single in the seventh.

The 2020 White Sox are so remarkable because, as a franchise, they simultaneously are long overdue to make the postseason—only the Mariners, Marlins and Padres had longer playoff droughts than Chicago—and ahead of schedule.

Way back in March, as we detailed the promise of baseball’s next decade in the initial Sports Illustrated 2020 MLB Preview issue, I called the White Sox “a dynasty in the making." I wrote then: “The good times have not lasted, but the pain has. Now, for a change, there’s a sustained sunny forecast in Chicago, thanks to a front of young talent that arrived while no one was paying attention…” 

Still, that young core wasn’t supposed to turn the ChiSox into a leading contender to win the pennant this year. “An AL Central title isn’t assured in ‘20, but progress is.”

Certainly, what we’re seeing from the White Sox is progress—they lost 100 games in 2018 and 89 games a year ago—but this much of an improvement this soon was unexpected. So how did they get here?

The Chicago White Sox celebrate after defeating the Minnesota Twins at Guaranteed Rate Field to clinch a playoff berth / David Banks - USA Today Sports

Few teams embody baseball’s youth movement more than these White Sox, with batting champ Tim Anderson (27), strapping left fielder Eloy Jiménez (23) and electric rookie center fielder Luis Robert (23).

But this winning team wasn’t built on youth alone. This offseason they signed veteran left-hander Dallas Keuchel to provide depth to the rotation and All-Star catcher Yasmani Grandal to improve their plate discipline. Although he is currently on the injured list with back spasms, Keuchel has been their best pitcher this year (6-2, 2.19 ERA), and Grandal leads the team with 27 walks and has a .776 OPS.

Above all, though, they wouldn’t be here without the 33-year-old Abreu. The White Sox fell to fourth place, with a 10-11 record, after losing both games of a doubleheader to the Cardinals on Aug. 15. Chicago won the next day, 7–2, and Abreu went 1-for-3 with a solo homer to begin a 22-game hitting streak. The White Sox surged to first place and went 17-5 over that 22-game span, during which Abreu slashed .370/.414/.772 with 10 home runs and 28 RBI. After he went hitless last Friday against the Tigers, Abreu went 4-for-4 with two homers on Saturday, beginning a new hitting streak that’s now up to six games. Over the last six games, he’s hitting .541 with four homers and 11 RBI.

Maybe we should have expected more from the White Sox this year. They did have all the pieces they needed before the season began. It’s easy to look back now and recognize that.

Either way, the White Sox are going to the postseason for the first time since 2008. It’s been a long time coming, but the “dynasty in the making” has arrived.

We've got plans in October. pic.twitter.com/M6498ijZes

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) September 17, 2020

Quick Hits:

• The Rays became the second AL team to clinch a postseason berth when they beat the Orioles, 10–6, in the second game of Thursday's doubleheader. They hold a 3 1/2-game lead over the Yankees for the first AL East playoff spot.

• The Yankees massacred the Blue Jays this week, the latest demolition coming Thursday when they hit five homers in the fourth inning and six overall. Their five-homer inning ties a MLB record, and they set a new MLB record for most homers in a three-game span. They hit 19 in this three-game series over the Blue Jays, who actually came into the series ahead of New York in the AL East. Now, the Yankees are in second place and have won eight straight games.

• The Phillies hit three straight homers in the first inning of their game against the Mets Thursday. In the Yankees' five-homer fourth, three of them came in consecutive plate appearances. According to MLB.com's Sarah Langs, this is the third time in MLB history that multiple teams went back-to-back-to-back on the same day. The Royals and Twins both did it in the same game on April 9, 2000, and the Diamondbacks and Giants each did it in different games on Aug. 22, 1999.

• Pirates left-hander Steven Brault pitched a complete game against the Cardinals, allowing one run and two hits, to pick up his first win of the season. With the 4–1 loss, St. Louis has dropped seven of its last 10 games and is now the third-place team in the NL Central. If the season ended today, the Cardinals would not make the postseason.