TORONTO — For a second-straight year, the club is off to a bad start, but this one in 2023 has been historically poor. In fact, there have been few beginnings as forgettable as this one in the 123 seasons the White Sox have played baseball.
They were swept for a second-straight series, losing 8-0 to the Blue Jays on Wednesday, who cruised to three-straight wins in Toronto by a combined score of 20-2. Couple that with a three-game sweep by the Rays last weekend & a defeat to end the last homestand to the Phillies, the White Sox have lost seven in a row to fall to 7-18 on the season.
So how bad is this start in terms of club history?
Through 25 games, the 2023 White Sox are off to their third-worst start since the franchise began play in 1901. They’ve matched their beginning to the 1986 campaign, when the club fired Tony La Russa mid-season and finished 72-90, along with 1932, when they finished 49-102-1.
It’s a little better than the team’s worst start to a season through 25 games when they went 5-19-1 in 1948 and 1950.
Here’s where the start to the 2023 season stacks up among the worst in club history.
- 1948 – 5-19-1- Finished 51-101-2
- 1950 – 5-19-1 – Finished 60-94-2
- 1942 – 6-19 – Finished 66-82
- 1932 – 7-18 – Finished 49-102-1
- 1986 – 7-18 – Finished 72-90
- 2023 – 7-18
- 1928 – 7-17-1 – Finished 72-82-1
Wednesday marked a trend for the White Sox as they suffered a sixth defeat of the year by four-or-more runs. Starter Michael Kopech surrendered three runs in the third and one in the fourth, which was plenty for the Blue Jays, who held the visitors to four hits in a second-straight shutout.
