White Sox tie American League record for losses in a single season with 119

SAN DIEGO — The number under the loss column no longer is avoidable for the 2024 White Sox.

At 119, following a 6-2 setback to the Padres on Saturday night at Petco Park, it is now historic in the most dubious sort of way. The White Sox tied the 2003 Tigers for the most single-season losses by an American League team in the Modern Era with their fourth straight setback and a 9-48 showing since the All-Star break.

One more defeat links them forever with the ’62 Mets, who set the Major League record of 120 losses as an expansion team. Two more losses, and the White Sox will stand alone.

While the topping of this 62-year-old mark may come during next week’s series against the Angels at Guaranteed Rate Field, this is not anything the White Sox envisioned back in February when Spring Training began under then-manager Pedro Grifol.

It’s also not something those among the White Sox who made it through to the end will allow to define them, now or in the future, as they told MLB.com during recent interviews.

“Obviously, it’s not a record you want to have, but at the end of the year, 120 or 123, it doesn’t make the season any better,” first baseman/designated hitter Gavin Sheets said. “It doesn’t mean all this was a success because we didn’t break the record. It was still a terrible season. At the end of the day, we need to get better going into next year. Hopefully, we grow from this season and we can take a big step forward.”

“We can’t look at it,” veteran infielder Nicky Lopez said. “We’ve got to just keep plugging forward: If we lose today’s game, it’s how can we win tomorrow’s game. But as far as affecting me, it obviously sucks. I’m going to be, we are all going to be attached to it. But also, we are going to move on and whether I’m here next year or somewhere else, it quickly turns to that.”

Discussions concerning this unforgettably forgettable White Sox season focus on myriad subpar results.

They started 3-22. They have an 0-101 record when trailing after eight innings and haven’t won a game this season when trailing after six. Their .279 on-base percentage and .618 OPS easily are the worst in Major League Baseball.

People don’t need to dig too deeply to find something wrong at all corners. But beyond this underperformance and the dismal record, what do White Sox players want people to know about this group?

For starters, this has been a cohesive unit from Day 1 of Spring Training. It hasn’t changed during the litany of down times, and the work ethic hasn’t changed either.

“This is a room full of great, hard-working, determined guys,” catcher Korey Lee said. “Every day you come in here, you see guys working out, you see guys going in the cage, you see guys talking. You see our pitching staff working hard. You see our entire background staff working hard.

“A lot of people see what goes on under the lights, but not a lot see what’s going on here at noon, 1 or 2 o’clock, just hours before the game. Everyone is working. Everyone has a purpose. Everyone has a plan. That’s what is the beauty of this game, is coming in here and working every single day to get better.”

The White Sox have a Major League-worst 35 blown saves, lost 55 games after leading and dropped 22 when leading after the sixth, where they have been outscored 354-197 from that frame to the close.

Friday’s opener saw Lenyn Sosa’s dramatic homer with two strikes and two outs in the ninth off hard-throwing San Diego closer Robert Suarez, erasing a 2-0 deficit and tying the game. The White Sox were walked off in 10 innings for loss No. 118, with the wrong kind of history now in sight.

“Just seeing losses every day, that affects you. If you are playing this game for the right reasons, it’s always going to affect you,” Lee said. “Play the game to win, don’t play to lose, and obviously that’s going to be on our record for years to come. But it’s just about how you react, how you carry yourself, how you go into the offseason, how you come into next season.

“I have no doubt the people in this locker room are going to be affected by it. But I think it’s going to be affecting them in a good way. Give us determination this offseason to do what we need to do and come into spring and obviously figure everything out and do stuff for a reason.”