Chicago White Sox off to worst season start in franchise history
The White Sox broke a six-game losing streak on Wednesday with a 2-1 win over the Royals in the second game of a doubleheader, but they're still off to a historically bad start.
They not only have the worst record in Major League Baseball at 3-15, but they're tied with the 1948 White Sox for the worst start in franchise history.
Their current winning percentage of .168 puts this year's squad on pace for a 27-135 record, which would far outpace the worst season in White Sox history. The 1932 White Sox currently hold the franchise record for worst winning percentage at .325.
The White Sox rank last in MLB with 38 runs in 18 games. The next closest team, the Oakland A's, have scored 56 runs in 19 games. They're also last in MLB in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, home runs, RBI, and total bases.
That only begins to tell the tale of their offensive woes. They've been shut out 6 times in 18 games, or once every three games. They've scored 3 or more runs only 6 times.
The White Sox have scored only 20 runs in 11 home games, while the Cincinnati Reds scored 27 runs in a three-game series at Guaranteed Rate Field - with 22 of those coming in a pair of 11-run games.
Their struggles at the plate can only be partly blamed on injuries to designated hitter Eloy Jimenez, third baseman Yoan Moncada, and All-Star center fielder Luis Robert. Even before going down with injuries, Robert was hitting only .214, and Jimenez was hitting only .118, and while Moncada was hitting a respectable .282, he had no home runs or RBI in 11 games.
While the White Sox had been hoping for a breakout year from first baseman Andrew Vaughn, he's been struggling to the tune of a .167 average, with no home runs and only 3 RBI in 18 games.
Besides Moncada, only two other players have a batting average of .250 or better, and their team batting average of .196 ranks 29th in the majors, ahead of only the .196 average for the Twins.