CHICAGO – Another baseball season has come to an end in Chicago, and for the first time since 2019, there won’t be a squad in the postseason.
After both teams made the playoffs in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and the White Sox won the AL Central in 2021, neither team qualified for the postseason in 2022. Hence their regular season finales on Wednesday would be the last time they’d step on the field this year.
In Game 162, fortunes were much different on both sides of town.
The White Sox finished up an extremely disappointing season with an afternoon that was emblematic of their season.
As their offense remained quiet, their pitching imploded early in a 10-1 loss to the Twins that prevents the club from earning a third-straight winning season, finishing at 81-81. A clear favorite to win the AL Central this season, the White Sox finished in second place, 11 games behind the Guardians who finished with 92 victories.
What was supposed to be another year in the team’s championship window instead has put the franchise into a bit of limbo. The underachieving team is looking for a new manager after Tony La Russa announced his departure before the final year of his contract due to health concerns.
Not only is that a question for the front office now as the offseason begins but so is the future of their core which they started building at the start of the initial rebuild. Could major moves be ahead with some big name players? Stay tuned.
In many ways, the Cubs are in the same spot after missing the playoffs for a second-straight year since they too are looking at their next steps in building up their roster to compete for championships again.
But with manager David Ross in place and a better-than-expected second half, the vibes are a little better around the north siders as the season ends.
They completed their 2022 campaign with a 15-2 victory over the Reds to finish the season at 74-88. That might have seemed like a stretch when the team was 22 games under .500 at the All-Star Break, but improved play and a softening of the schedule helped the club play better the final two-and-a-half months.
Ross’ team finished the second half with a 39-31 record, including eight wins in their final ten games of the season.
