The Brewer Home Opener with "the Mizz" (one of my favorite non-White Sox) pitching will be a tough test for our offense. That series plus our subsequent Home series against the loaded Blue Jay team are going to be rough...especially given that the Sox pitching proved quite suspect in ST. We need Teel back in the line-up and meanwhile, the rest of the line-up needs to shake the cobwebs from ST, and start slugging.

My wife and I were going to be in Milwaukee this week anyway (a quick drinking getaway) and decided to grab tickets to Thursday's game. I've only been to one other away Sox game (in Milwaukee), and they lost in dramatic fashion after allowing Justin Anderson to pitch in the bottom of the 8th in a one run game. But Benintendi did homer...before somehow hurting himself.

Hopefully my presence will bring them luck. If not, there's always beer.

But, yeah, if could be a tough first couple series.

I'm bullish on the start of the season because we have an unusually warm streak of away series.

Milwaukee (Dome)
Miami (Dome)
Kansas City
Sacramento
Phoenix (Dome)
San Diego
Anaheim
Seattle (Dome)
San Francisco

That takes you all the way to June with KC being the only potentially cold series. Obviously we still play half the games in Chicago but that is WAY better than we normally see.

Ah, ya never know. That's why they play the games. It's time for regular season and they haven't lost one yet... go get em boys!!!

31 minutes ago, DoUEvenShift said:

I'm bullish on the start of the season because we have an unusually warm streak of away series.

Milwaukee (Dome)
Miami (Dome)
Kansas City
Sacramento
Phoenix (Dome)
San Diego
Anaheim
Seattle (Dome)
San Francisco

That takes you all the way to June with KC being the only potentially cold series. Obviously we still play half the games in Chicago but that is WAY better than we normally see.

If nothing else it will be nice to not get the snow / rain outs so much as a fan. And I'm sure the players appreciate it. Baseball is not meant to be played or watched on a 38 degree windy day. It's a warm weather sport and fan experience.

I'm going on Sunday. Get to a game and not give JR any money is the goal. Passan has the Sox at 101 losses.

1 minute ago, Dick Allen said:

I'm going on Sunday. Get to a game and not give JR any money is the goal. Passan has the Sox at 101 losses.

That’s a tough goal to accomplish, even if given free tickets. Are you taking the train to avoid paying for parking?

2 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

I'm going on Sunday. Get to a game and not give JR any money is the goal. Passan has the Sox at 101 losses.

It seems like most of the national writers think progress, and probably not 100 losses. That's about where I am too. I think "competitive" stuff is nuts, but keep most guys moving forward and it is a productive year.

5 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

That’s a tough goal to accomplish, even if given free tickets. Are you taking the train to avoid paying for parking?

They open in Milwaukee not at home

3 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

It seems like most of the national writers think progress, and probably not 100 losses. That's about where I am too. I think "competitive" stuff is nuts, but keep most guys moving forward and it is a productive year.

I think 101 losses is still pretty crazy to predict. I don’t think it will be that bad. However, if it happens, Getz should get some sort of award. Four straight 100+ losses seasons would be pretty impressive.

Just now, DoUEvenShift said:

They open in Milwaukee not at home

Doh, total brain fart. Hilarious because I just looked at the schedule yesterday and told my Cubs fan buddy that they open at Milwaukee.

Just now, WhiteSox2023 said:

I think 101 losses is still pretty crazy to predict. I don’t think it will be that bad. However, if it happens, Getz should get some sort of award. Four straight 100+ losses seasons would be pretty impressive.

If I had to put a number on it, I would go 69-93, A lot of it depends on what happens in the minors, how soon guys can get here, and if they are productive once they do arrive.

I have no idea, I thought we had a solid offseason but you could easily see a situation where the pitching help expected to come in June all has slow starts/injuries and we have a completely gassed bullpen and miserable staff for most of the year.

If that doesn't happen, I think once May comes around the season will be enjoyable and I hope for 75 wins.

7 minutes ago, bmags said:

I have no idea, I thought we had a solid offseason but you could easily see a situation where the pitching help expected to come in June all has slow starts/injuries and we have a completely gassed bullpen and miserable staff for most of the year.

If that doesn't happen, I think once May comes around the season will be enjoyable and I hope for 75 wins.

If the young pitching goes the way they did last year, 100 losses is very realistic, because it means that help won't be coming.

3 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

If the young pitching goes the way they did last year, 100 losses is very realistic, because it means that help won't be coming.

except I think we started the year with a better staff in the majors last year than we have this year.

1 minute ago, bmags said:

except I think we started the year with a better staff in the majors last year than we have this year.

Agreed. I don’t have much faith in Kay and Fedde, especially this second time around.

1 minute ago, bmags said:

except I think we started the year with a better staff in the majors last year than we have this year.

I also don't believe we're starting with 4 obvious holes in the lineup like Vaughn, Amaya, Jankowski and Maton. By May 1, they had it down to just Vaughn and Palacios.

34 minutes ago, bmags said:

except I think we started the year with a better staff in the majors last year than we have this year.

That is definitely fair, and I don't think there is much hope for significant growth as a whole until the next gen gets here. I do think the pen is better in the sense as it isn't the obvious worst in the world, but yeah.

Pitching will dictate any real progress this year by the franchise and frankly that starting rotation doesn't look very good at all.

I looked up their over/under today, and it was at 67.5.

ESPN.com

MLB 2026 season preview: Rankings, every team's playoff odds

Whether your club enters Opening Day as the team to beat or hoping to be 2026's biggest surprise, we've got you covered.

Sox picked for 28th, 61-101

White

3 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

ESPN.com

MLB 2026 season preview: Rankings, every team's playoff odds

Whether your club enters Opening Day as the team to beat or hoping to be 2026's biggest surprise, we've got you covered.

Sox picked for 28th, 61-101

White

Passan hate us cuz he ain’t us.

8 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

Passan hate us cuz he ain’t us.

Generally, he has been pretty fair and balanced the last 2-3 seasons.

with that rotation and the Teel injury, 63-67 wins was never far from the realm of possibility.

But ending back in the 50s is the one thing they can’t afford. Then they’re the Nationals and stuck/mired…although the #1 overall pick mitigates some of that.

61-101 was the exact same result another ESPN listicle arrived at with a totally different formula.

Btw, the site is completely a minefield on mobile right now. iPad is fine at least.

2 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

Generally, he has been pretty fair and balanced the last 2-3 seasons.

with that rotation and the Teel injury, 63-67 wins was never far from the realm of possibility.

But ending back in the 50s is the one thing they can’t afford. Then they’re the Nationals and stuck/mired…although the #1 overall pick mitigates some of that.

61-101 was the exact same result another ESPN listicle arrived at with a totally different formula.

Btw, the site is completely a minefield on mobile right now. iPad is fine at least.

The rotation honestly looks like ass on paper to me, but the lineup doesn’t seem that bad. I just can’t imagine the Sox not improving on last year’s record.

If Passan nails his prediction, the MLB will need to come up with their own version of the Razzie Awards. A new “Potato Executive of the Year Award” with Getz as its first recipient.

Heading to Milwaukee on Saturday. First Sox game I’ve been to in awhile. I think Giolito started the last game I was at and Donaldson was playing for the Twins. 👀