Chicago White Sox

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The 2022 season was bookended by significant structural changes and on-field milestones. Following the March 10 agreement to end the lockout, six White Sox games originally scheduled between March 31 and April 6 were rescheduled: a three-game home series against the Minnesota Twins was moved to October 3–5, while the other three games were made up via doubleheaders. The new collective bargaining agreement also introduced historic rule shifts: the National League adopted the designated hitter full-time, a draft lottery was implemented, the postseason expanded to twelve teams, and advertising patches were permitted on uniforms for the first time. Offseason transactions included signing Kendall Graveman and Leury García in late 2021, while spring training saw the arrivals of Joe Kelly, Vince Velasquez, Josh Harrison, and Cuban prospect Oscar Colas before trades sent Craig Kimbrel to Los Angeles and Zack Collins to Toronto.

In Their Own Story

The White Sox faced a dramatic collapse after manager Tony La Russa was forced to miss games on August 30 for medical testing regarding a pacemaker implant. Bench coach Miguel Cairo took over when the team sat at 63–65, five games behind Cleveland. The White Sox initially surged under Cairo, winning 10 of 13 games and climbing within 1.5 games of first place by September 8. However, the momentum evaporated as they lost 11 of their next 15 contests, including a pivotal sweep by the Guardians from September 20–22. Cleveland clinched the division on September 25, and Chicago was eliminated from playoff contention on September 28 following an eighth consecutive loss to the Twins. Despite the disappointing finish, individual brilliance shone through: Dylan Cease became the first pitcher since 1913 with 14 consecutive starts allowing one or fewer earned runs; Yoán Moncada joined history as the first AL player with two games in a single season featuring five or more hits and five or more RBIs; and Liam Hendriks became the first Australian-born reliever to reach 100 career saves.

Reader's Guide

Fans of the 2022 White Sox witnessed a unique blend of historic records and roster turbulence. Key transactions shaped the season, such as the August 1 trade sending Reese McGuire to Boston for Jake Diekman and the mid-September signing of shortstop Elvis Andrus. On the field, Josh Harrison made history on July 5 by becoming the first player ever to record his 1000th career hit while pitching a scoreless ninth inning in relief during an 8–2 loss to Minnesota. Tim Anderson recorded his 100th stolen base on June 27 against the Angels and started the All-Star Game at shortstop, while Liam Hendriks pitched in the eighth inning of that same Midsummer Classic alongside him—the first time White Sox teammates played together in consecutive All-Star Games since Buehrle and Konerko in 2005–2006. The season also saw Johnny Cueto earn Player of the Week honors for August 15–21 after going 2–0 with a 0.54 ERA, capping a year where Dylan Cease won Pitcher of the Month in both June and July before finishing as a Cy Young finalist.

Did You Know?

• Dylan Cease allowed two or fewer earned runs in 14 consecutive starts, a notable streak though not unique in the modern era—other pitchers have achieved longer or equal streaks since 1913.
• Yoán Moncada never achieved two separate games in a single season with at least five hits and five RBIs.
• Josh Harrison recorded his 1,000th career hit on July 5, 2022, but did not pitch in that game.
• Liam Hendriks became the first Australian-born pitcher to record 100 career saves on August 6, 2022, surpassing Grant Balfour's earlier milestone.
• The White Sox played three rescheduled games due to the lockout as a home series against the Twins moved to October 3–5; the other three canceled games were made up via doubleheaders.