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2020 Chicago White Sox
American League Wild Card Winners
League American League
Division Central
Ballpark Guaranteed Rate Field
City Chicago
Record35–25 (.583)
Divisional place3rd
Owners Jerry Reinsdorf
General managers Rick Hahn
Managers Rick Renteria
Television NBC Sports Chicago
NBC Sports Chicago+
( Jason Benetti, Steve Stone, Tom Paciorek, Tony Graffanino)
Radio WGN-AM
Chicago White Sox Radio Network
( Andy Masur, Darrin Jackson)
WRTO-AM (Spanish)
(Hector Molina, Billy Russo)
Stats ESPN.com
BB-reference
←  2019 Seasons 2021 →

The 2020 season was the Chicago White Sox' 121st season in Chicago and 120th in the American League. The Sox played their home games at Guaranteed Rate Field.

On March 12, 2020, MLB announced that because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the start of the regular season would be delayed by at least two weeks in addition to the remainder of spring training being cancelled. [1] Four days later, it was announced that the start of the season would be pushed back indefinitely due to the recommendation made by the CDC to restrict events of more than 50 people for eight weeks. [2] On June 23, commissioner Rob Manfred unilaterally implemented a 60-game season. Players reported to training camps on July 1 in order to resume spring training and prepare for a July 24 Opening Day. [3]

Due to the pandemic and the shortened season, Major League Baseball instituted certain rule changes which included the use of a universal designated hitter, a runner on second base to start extra innings, and a revised schedule. [4] On July 30, the league and the union agreed that all remaining doubleheaders on the season would be seven innings. [5]

On April 1, 2020, longtime White Sox radio broadcaster Ed Farmer died at the age of 70. [6]

On September 17, with a win against the Minnesota Twins, the White Sox clinched their first playoff spot since 2008. This was their first winning season since 2012. They lost in three games to the Oakland Athletics in the 2020 American League Wild Card Series.

Offseason

Rule changes

For the 2020 season, MLB instituted several new rule changes including the following: [7]

  • Single trade deadline – there will no longer be a waiver trade deadline later in the year.
  • 26-man roster – rosters will expand from 25 players, but no team may carry more than 13 pitchers.
  • Three-batter minimum for pitchers - a pitcher must face three batters in a game before they can be removed unless there is an injury or the end of an inning.

Further rule changes came into effect in response to the COVID-19 pandemic including the use of the DH in the National League, a shortened schedule, and starting extra innings with a runner at second base. [8]

Transactions

  • November 21, 2019: Catcher Yasmani Grandal signed as a free agent by the White Sox to a four-year, $73 million contract.
  • November 22, 2019: 1st Baseman José Abreu signed a three-year contract extension worth $50 million with the White Sox.
  • December 2, 2019: Catcher James McCann signed a one-year extension with the White Sox.
  • December 10, 2019: White Sox trade outfielder Steele Walker to the Texas Rangers for outfielder Nomar Mazara.
  • December 20, 2019: LHP Gio González signed as a free agent by the White Sox to a one-year, $5 million contract.
  • December 30, 2019: LHP Dallas Keuchel signed as a free agent by the White Sox to a three-year, $55.5 million contract.
  • January 2, 2020: Outfielder Luis Robert signed a six-year contract extension worth $50 million with the White Sox.
  • January 9, 2020: 1B-DH Edwin Encarnación signed as a free agent by the White Sox to a one-year, $12 million contract.
  • January 14, 2020: RHP Steve Cishek signed as a free agent by the White Sox to a one-year, $6 million contract.

Regular season

On August 13, the White Sox were supposed to play the first ever MLB at Field of Dreams game against the New York Yankees at a temporary 8,000 seat ballpark in Dyersville, Iowa before the pandemic came. MLB then announced the shortened season and that the AL and NL will play against each other in the same division which took the Yankees off the matchup. Then on July 1, MLB announced that the St. Louis Cardinals would replace the Yankees for the game. Then in late July, a majority of Cardinals players and coaches tested positive for COVID-19. The MLB announced on August 3 that the Field of Dreams game would be rescheduled to August 12, 2021 in which the White Sox would still participate and their opponent will once again be the Yankees.

Game log

2020 regular season game log: 35–25 (Home: 18–12; Away: 17–13)
July: 3–4 (Home: 1–2; Away: 2–2)
# Date Opponent Time (CT) Score Win Loss Save Record Streak
1 July 24 Twins 7:10pm 5–10 May (1–0) Giolito (0–1) 0–1 L1
2 July 25 Twins 1:10pm 10–3 Keuchel (1–0) Dobnak (0–1) 1–1 W1
3 July 26 Twins 1:10pm 2–14 Maeda (1–0) López (0–1) 1–2 L1
July 27 @ Indians Postponed (inclement weather) [9]
4 July 28 @ Indians 3:40pm 3–4 Civale (1–0) Cease (0–1) Hand (2) 1–3 L2
5 July 28 @ Indians TBA 3–5 Plutko (1–0) Rodón (0–1) Hill (1) 1–4 L3
6 July 29 @ Indians 5:10pm 4–0 Bummer (1–0) Hand (0–1) 2–4 W1
7 July 31 @ Royals 7:05pm 3–2 Keuchel (2–0) Bubic (0–1) Colomé (1) 3–4 W2
August: 19–9 (Home: 10–7; Away: 9–2)
# Date Opponent Time (CT) Score Win Loss Save Record Streak
8 August 1 @ Royals 6:05pm 11–5 Foster (1–0) Bolaños (0–2) Heuer (1) 4–4 W3
9 August 2 @ Royals 1:05pm 9–2 Cease (1–1) Barlow (1–1) 5–4 W4
10 August 3 @ Brewers 7:10pm 6–4 Detwiler (1–0) Phelps (1–1) Colomé (2) 6–4 W5
11 August 4 @ Brewers 7:10pm 3–2 Giolito (1–1) Williams (0–1) Colomé (3) 7–4 W6
12 August 5 Brewers 7:10pm 0–1 Houser (1–0) Keuchel (2–1) Hader (2) 7–5 L1
13 August 6 Brewers 7:10pm 3–8 Lindblom (1–0) González (0–1) 7–6 L2
14 August 7 Indians 7:10pm 2–0 Cease (2–1) Civale (1–2) Colomé (4) 8–6 W1
15 August 8 Indians 1:10pm 1–7 Plesac (1–1) Anderson (0–1) 8–7 L1
16 August 9 Indians 1:10pm 4–5 (10) Maton (1–0) Cordero (0–1) Pérez (1) 8–8 L2
17 August 10 @ Tigers 6:10pm 1–5 Norris (1–1) Keuchel (2–2) 8–9 L3
18 August 11 @ Tigers 6:10pm 8–4 Foster (2–0) Alexander (1–1) 9–9 W1
19 August 12 @ Tigers 12:10pm 7–5 Cease (3–1) Boyd (0–2) Colomé (5) 10–9 W2
20 August 15 Cardinals 1:10pm 1–5 Wainwright (2–0) Giolito (1–2) 10–10 L1
21 August 15 Cardinals 3:15pm 3–6 Cabrera (1–0) Marshall (0–1) Miller (1) 10–11 L2
22 August 16 Cardinals 1:10pm 7–2 Keuchel (3–2) Hudson (0–2) 11–11 W1
23 August 17 Tigers 7:10pm 7–2 Heuer (1–0) Boyd (0–3) 12–11 W2
24 August 18 Tigers 7:10pm 10–4 Cease (4–1) Skubal (0–1) 13–11 W3
25 August 19 Tigers 7:10pm 5–3 Marshall (1–1) Soto (0–1) Colomé (6) 14–11 W4
26 August 20 Tigers 1:10pm 9–0 Giolito (2–2) Turnbull (2–2) 15–11 W5
27 August 21 @ Cubs 7:15pm 10–1 Keuchel (4–2) Lester (2–1) 16–11 W6
28 August 22 @ Cubs 7:15pm 7–4 González (1–1) Hendricks (3–3) 17–11 W7
29 August 23 @ Cubs 1:20pm 1–2 Darvish (5–1) Cease (4–2) Jeffress (3) 17–12 L1
30 August 25 Pirates 7:10pm 4–0 Giolito (3–2) Brault (0–1) 18–12 W1
31 August 26 Pirates 1:10pm 10–3 Keuchel (2–0) Williams (1–5) 19–12 W2
32 August 28 Royals 7:10pm 6–5 Colomé (1–0) Kennedy (0–2) 20–12 W3
33 August 29 Royals 1:10pm 6–9 Newberry (1–0) Burdi (0–1) Hahn (1) 20–13 L1
34 August 30 Royals 1:10pm 5–2 (10) Foster (3–0) Zuber (1–2) 21–13 W1
35 August 31 @ Twins 7:10pm 8–5 Foster (4–0) Rogers (1–3) Colomé (7) 22–13 W2
September: 13–12 (Home: 7–3 ; Away: 6–9)
# Date Opponent Time (CT) Score Win Loss Save Record Streak
36 September 1 @ Twins 7:10pm 2–3 Thielbar (1–0) Cordero (0–2) Wisler (1) 22–14 L1
37 September 2 @ Twins 7:10pm 1–8 Berríos (3–3) López (0–2) 22–15 L2
38 September 3 @ Royals 7:05pm 11–6 Cease (5–2) Duffy (2–3) 23–15 W1
39 September 4 @ Royals 7:05pm 7–4 Heuer (2–0) Singer (1–4) Colomé (8) 24–15 W2
40 September 5 @ Royals 6:05pm 5–3 Giolito (4–2) Bubic (0–5) Colomé (9) 25–15 W3
41 September 6 @ Royals 1:05pm 8–2 Keuchel (6–2) Harvey (0–3) 26–15 W4
42 September 8 @ Pirates 6:05pm 4–5 Rodríguez (2–2) Detwiler (1–1) 26–16 L1
43 September 9 @ Pirates 6:05pm 8–1 Dunning (1–0) Brubaker (1–1) 27–16 W1
44 September 11 Tigers 7:10pm 4–3 Marshall (2–1) Cisnero (2–3) Colomé (10) 28–16 W2
45 September 12 Tigers 6:10pm 14–0 López (1–2) Fulmer (0–2) 29–16 W3
46 September 13 Tigers 1:10pm 5–2 Cordero (1–2) Turnbull (4–3) Colomé (11) 30–16 W4
47 September 14 Twins 7:10pm 3–1 Colomé (2–0) Rogers (1–4) 31–16 W5
48 September 15 Twins 7:10pm 6–2 Dunning (2–0) Dobnak (6–4) 32–16 W6
49 September 16 Twins 7:10pm 1–5 Stashak (1–0) Giolito (4–3) 32–17 L1
50 September 17 Twins 1:10pm 4–3 Heuer (3–0) Clippard (1–1) Colomé (12) 33–17 W1
51 September 18 @ Reds 6:10pm 1–7 Mahle (2–2) Stiever (0–1) 33–18 L1
52 September 19 @ Reds 5:10pm 5–0 Foster (5–0) Bauer (4–4) 34–18 W1
53 September 20 @ Reds 12:10pm 3–7 Sims (3–0) Cease (5–3) 34–19 L1
54 September 21 @ Indians 5:10pm 4–7 Civale (4–5) Fry (0–1) Hand (14) 34–20 L2
55 September 22 @ Indians 5:10pm 3–5 (10) Maton (3–3) Foster (5–1) 34–21 L3
56 September 23 @ Indians 5:10pm 2–3 Hand (2–1) González (1–2) 34–22 L4
57 September 24 @ Indians 5:10pm 4–5 Hill (2–0) Rodón (0–2) Hand (15) 34–23 L5
58 September 25 Cubs 7:10pm 0–10 Darvish (8–3) Cease (5–4) 34–24 L6
59 September 26 Cubs 6:10pm 9–5 Foster (6–1) Lester (3–3) 35–24 W1
60 September 27 Cubs 2:10pm 8–10 Alzolay (1–1) López (1–3) Chafin (1) 35–25 L1
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement
Bold = White Sox team member

Season standings

American League Central

AL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Minnesota Twins 36 24 0.600 24–7 12–17
Cleveland Indians 35 25 0.583 1 18–12 17–13
Chicago White Sox 35 25 0.583 1 18–12 17–13
Kansas City Royals 26 34 0.433 10 15–15 11–19
Detroit Tigers 23 35 0.397 12 12–15 11–20


American League Wild Card

Division Leaders W L Pct.
Tampa Bay Rays 40 20 0.667
Oakland Athletics 36 24 0.600
Minnesota Twins 36 24 0.600
Division 2nd Place W L Pct.
Cleveland Indians 35 25 0.583
New York Yankees 33 27 0.550
Houston Astros 29 31 0.483
Wild Card teams
(Top 2 teams qualify for postseason)
W L Pct. GB
Chicago White Sox 35 25 0.583 +3
Toronto Blue Jays 32 28 0.533
Seattle Mariners 27 33 0.450 5
Los Angeles Angels 26 34 0.433 6
Kansas City Royals 26 34 0.433 6
Baltimore Orioles 25 35 0.417 7
Boston Red Sox 24 36 0.400 8
Detroit Tigers 23 35 0.397 8
Texas Rangers 22 38 0.367 10


Record against opponents

Source: MLB Standings Grid – 2020

Team CWS CLE DET KC MIN NL
Chicago 2–8 9–1 9–1 5–5 10–10
Cleveland 8–2 7–3 5–5 3–7 12–8
Detroit 1–9 3–7 4–6 4–6 11–7
Kansas City 1–9 5–5 6–4 5–5 9–11
Minnesota 5–5 7–3 6–4 5–5 13–7

Detailed records

Achievements

Postseason

Game log

2020 White Sox postseason game log
American League Wild Card Series (1–2) (best of 3)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time (CT) Record Box
1 September 29 @ Athletics 4–1 Giolito (1–0) Luzardo (0–1) Colomé (1) 2:00pm 1–0 W1
2 September 30 @ Athletics 3–5 Bassitt (1–0) Keuchel (0–1) Diekman (1) 2:00pm 1–1 L1
3 October 1 @ Athletics 4–6 Montas (1–0) Marshall (0–1) Hendriks (1) 2:00pm 1–2 L1

Postseason rosters

Playoff rosters

Roster

2020 Chicago White Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Walks; AVG = Batting average; SLG = Slugging average

Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB AVG SLG
José Abreu 60 240 43 76 15 0 19 60 0 18 .317 .617
Eloy Jiménez 55 213 26 63 14 0 14 41 0 12 .296 .559
Tim Anderson 49 208 45 67 11 1 10 21 5 10 .322 .529
Luis Robert Jr. 56 202 33 47 8 0 11 31 9 20 .233 .436
Yoán Moncada 52 200 28 45 8 3 6 24 0 28 .225 .385
Yasmani Grandal 46 161 27 37 7 0 8 27 0 30 .230 .422
Edwin Encarnación 44 159 19 25 5 0 10 19 0 16 .157 .377
Nomar Mazara 42 136 13 31 6 0 1 15 0 10 .228 .294
Danny Mendick 33 107 11 26 4 1 3 6 0 6 .243 .383
Nick Madrigal 29 103 8 35 3 0 0 11 2 4 .340 .369
James McCann 31 97 20 28 3 0 7 15 1 8 .289 .536
Adam Engel 36 88 11 26 5 1 3 12 1 3 .295 .477
Leury García 16 59 6 16 1 0 3 8 0 4 .271 .441
Nicky Delmonico 6 20 0 3 0 0 0 3 0 2 .150 .150
Yolmer Sánchez 11 16 7 5 3 0 1 1 0 5 .313 .688
Zack Collins 9 16 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 .063 .125
Jarrod Dyson 11 10 3 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 .300 .300
Ryan Goins 14 9 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000
Luis González 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000
Yermín Mercedes 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000
Cheslor Cuthbert 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000
Team Totals 60 2047 306 534 94 6 96 294 20 179 .261 .453

Source: [1]

Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts

Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER BB SO
Lucas Giolito 4 3 3.48 12 12 0 72.1 47 31 28 28 97
Dallas Keuchel 6 2 1.99 11 11 0 63.1 52 15 14 17 42
Dylan Cease 5 4 4.01 12 12 0 58.1 50 30 26 34 44
Dane Dunning 2 0 3.97 7 7 0 34.0 25 17 15 13 35
Gio González 1 2 4.83 12 4 0 31.2 40 19 17 19 34
Matt Foster 6 1 2.20 23 2 0 28.2 16 8 7 9 31
Jimmy Cordero 1 2 6.08 30 0 0 26.2 33 21 18 9 22
Reynaldo López 1 3 6.49 8 8 0 26.1 28 21 19 15 24
Codi Heuer 3 0 1.52 21 0 1 23.2 12 4 4 9 25
Evan Marshall 2 1 2.38 23 0 0 22.2 17 6 6 7 30
Alex Colomé 2 0 0.81 21 0 12 22.1 13 3 2 8 16
Steve Cishek 0 0 5.40 22 0 0 20.0 21 12 12 9 21
Ross Detwiler 1 1 3.20 16 0 0 19.2 19 8 7 5 15
Jace Fry 0 1 3.66 18 0 0 19.2 16 9 8 12 24
Aaron Bummer 1 0 0.96 9 0 0 9.1 5 1 1 5 14
Carlos Rodón 0 2 8.22 4 2 0 7.2 9 7 7 3 6
Zack Burdi 0 1 11.05 8 0 0 7.1 11 11 9 3 11
Jonathan Stiever 0 1 9.95 2 2 0 6.1 7 7 7 4 3
Garrett Crochet 0 0 0.00 5 0 0 6.0 3 0 0 0 8
Ian Hamilton 0 0 4.50 4 0 0 4.0 4 2 2 5 4
José Ruiz 0 0 2.25 5 0 0 4.0 2 1 1 0 5
Alex McRae 0 0 0.00 2 0 0 3.0 1 0 0 0 2
Kelvin Herrera 0 0 15.43 2 0 0 2.1 3 4 4 1 3
Jimmy Lambert 0 0 0.00 2 0 0 2.0 2 0 0 0 2
Bernardo Flores Jr. 0 0 9.00 2 0 0 2.0 4 2 2 0 2
Drew Anderson 0 1 40.50 1 0 0 1.1 4 6 6 2 2
Brady Lail 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 1.1 2 0 0 0 1
Yolmer Sánchez 0 0 9.00 1 0 0 1.0 2 1 1 0 0
Team Totals 35 25 3.81 60 60 13 527.0 448 246 223 217 523

Source: [2]

Awards and honors

José Abreu won the American League Player of the Month for July/August.

Luis Robert won the American League Rookie of the Month for July/August. Robert also won the American League Gold Glove for Center field becoming the second rookie in White Sox history to do so.

The White Sox had 3 players winning the Silver Slugger Award with Abreu winning his 3rd and Tim Anderson and Eloy Jiménez winning their first.

Abreu also won his first AL MVP Award becoming the 4th player in White Sox history to do so joining Nellie Fox (1959), Dick Allen (1972), and Frank Thomas (1993-94). Abreu in 2020 batted .317 with an OBP of .370 and lead the AL in Slugging percentage at .617 and hit 19 homers on the year. Abreu also Lead the MLB with 60 RBIs and 148 total bases. Abreu also won the Hank Aaron Award, the Sporting News Player of the Year Award, and the All-MLB Second Team for first base.

White Sox General Manager Rick Hahn won the Sporting News Executive of the Year Award for 2020 becoming the third White Sox Executive to win the award joining Roland Hemond (1972) and Bill Veeck (1977).

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Charlotte Knights International League
AA Birmingham Barons Southern League
A-Advanced Winston-Salem Dash Carolina League
A Kannapolis Cannon Ballers South Atlantic League
Rookie Great Falls Voyagers Pioneer League
Rookie AZL White Sox Arizona League
Rookie DSL White Sox Dominican Summer League

References

  1. ^ Mark Feinsand (March 12, 2020). "Opening Day delayed at least 2 weeks; Spring Training games cancelled". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  2. ^ "Opening of regular season to be pushed back". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. March 16, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  3. ^ Feinsand, Mark (June 24, 2020). "Play Ball: MLB announces 2020 regular season". MLB.com. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  4. ^ Daniels, Tim. "MLB Rules, Format Changes for 60-Game 2020 Season Due to COVID-19". Bleacher Report. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  5. ^ "MLB reduces doubleheaders to 7 innings for '20". ESPN.com. July 31, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  6. ^ "White Sox radio broadcaster Ed Farmer dies". NBC Sports Chicago. April 2, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  7. ^ "Report: Single-trade deadline, 26-man roster, 3-batter minimum among changes in next 2 years". masslive. March 14, 2019. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  8. ^ Daniels, Tim. "MLB Rules, Format Changes for 60-Game 2020 Season Due to COVID-19". Bleacher Report. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  9. ^ "White Sox-Tribe postponed; DH on Tuesday". mlb.com. MLB Advanced Media. July 27, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  10. ^ Eagle, Ed (August 16, 2020). "Teams that have hit four straight home runs". MLB.com. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  11. ^ "White Sox join MLB history by hitting four consecutive home runs". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  12. ^ Merkin, Scott (August 23, 2020). "José Abreu homer streak at Wrigley". MLB.com. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  13. ^ Gardner, Steve (August 26, 2020). "Chicago White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito throws MLB's first no-hitter of 2020 season". USA Today. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
  14. ^ Merkin, Scott (August 29, 2020). "Edwin's blast sets franchise record for Sox". MLB.com. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
  15. ^ "White Sox go undefeated against left-handed pitching". Janice Scurio. September 29, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  16. ^ "2020 MLB Team Statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved March 8, 2021.

External links