Chicago White Sox get a brutal reality check in latest MLB power rankings

The bad news: the Chicago White Sox were defeated by the Atlanta Braves 2-0 today. The good news: Anthony Kay pitched six strong innings of two-run ball. Quality starts and length of any kind have been a rare sight from Chicago’s starters as of late, and Kay’s performance gave their bullpen a much-needed reprieve.

At 66-61, the White Sox still lead the American League Central Division by 3.5 games. The fact that they are in this position at all, in hindsight, is a tremendous surprise. Coming into 2026, no one expected Chicago to be anywhere close to contending after three consecutive seasons in which they lost more than 100 games.

Now that they are here, though, the onus is on them to finish strong.

The Chicago White Sox go up in the power rankings, but starting pitcher concerns abound

The age-old saying in baseball is that pitching wins championships. It is no secret, though, that Chicago has largely been carried by their high-powered offense this season. Indeed, their starting rotation has been serviceable at best for the majority of the year. One has to wonder how long they can continue to tread water without their current starters becoming more consistent.

That is the question ESPN asked when they ranked the White Sox 10th (up on spot from last week) in their weekly power rankings:

“The White Sox’s rotation has been thin since the All-Star break, and though manager Will Venable and his staff have done a good job of leveraging their hot relievers to stay afloat, Chicago runs the risk of burning out the bullpen if some of its starters don’t get going.

“The White Sox rank 25th in rotation ERA (4.68) since the All-Star break and have gotten only eight quality starts in 31 outings. Six of those seven have come from Sean Burke and Anthony Kay, while deadline pickup Luis Castillo has one quality start over his first three White Sox outings.

“Castillo is obviously a key to the rotation getting deeper behind Burke and Kay, but Chicago also badly needs early-season phenom Davis Martin to find himself. After posting a 3.41 ERA over 18 starts before the break, Martin has a ghastly 8.48 ERA over his first seven second-half starts.”

As ESPN points out, Chicago targeted Luis Castillo at the MLB trade deadline in hopes that he would help stabilize their starting rotation.

He has not.

What is more concerning, though, is that Davis Martin has struggled mightily after appearing to be an early-season Cy Young candidate. As noted above, he has an 8.48 ERA over his last seven starts. At the end of May, he was 8-1 with a 2.00 ERA. Since the beginning of June, though, he is 1-5 with a 6.52 ERA.

More Chicago White Sox news from ChiCity Sports

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• White Sox winning weekend made even sweet by slugging duo’s rare feat

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