White Sox lose ALDS to Guardians in 5 games

The Rate Field scoreboard on Oct. 7. (Photo by Jason Bauman)

The playoffs ended up mirroring the regular season quite a bit, didn't they? 

The White Sox were in first place every day from July 4 until Sept. 16. They had the Cleveland Guardians on the ropes, but they let them back in the race, and the Guardians won the American League Central by one game at the end.

The White Sox won the first two games of the American League Division series, but they let the Guardians back in it, and Cleveland won it at the end, prevailing 2-0 in the winner-take-all Game 5 on Saturday night.

One thing the Sox will need to improve upon next season is their contact rate. They struck out 52 times over the final three games of the ALDS, including 21 times in Game 5. If you don't put the ball in play, you're not giving yourself a chance. 

I attended Game 3 of the series at Rate Field in Chicago, and it occurred to me that the raucous South Side crowd actually worked *against* the Sox a little bit. The fans were so excited that the players got overexcited, and they lost their approach at the plate -- chasing more bad pitches, overswinging and generally trying to be the hero, instead of taking what was given.

It was a problem in Games 4 and 5, too. It's a hard lesson for a team of mostly first- and second-year players to learn. The Guardians were the more experienced team, having been in the playoffs in three of the past four years. The moment wasn't too big for the Cleveland players. Perhaps it was a little too big for the Sox.

That said, there's nothing to be ashamed about. The Sox made a 24-game improvement over 2025. They made the playoffs. They won a playoff series for the first time since the 2005 World Series. 

There's positive momentum for the organization for the first time in a long time, and fans just have to hope they capitalize on that, as opposed to squandering it, as we've seen a few times in the past.