When the Chicago White Sox walked off the field with a 7-4 victory over the Athletics on Sunday, they had only their second series win of the season. The young squad pulled off the victory in both the opener and closer, only dropping the middle game in extra innings.

As impressive as their unexpected series sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays was to begin the month, this felt like easily their best set of the year. Not only was their offense finally clicking, but they continued to get some strong play from their starting rotation. The hope now is that they can build off this momentum as they prepare for a three-game set against the 13-9 Diamondbacks.

Speaking of which, let’s go over some important notes before the Sox officially begin their eighth series of the 2026 campaign.

Offense Takes a Step Forward?

While the Chicago White Sox have faced their fair share of issues both on the mound and at the plate, their inability to get runners in scoring position has been the biggest problem. They have compiled the fourth-fewest RBIs this season and have registered just a .660 OPS overall, which is fifth-worst. Even the power hitting that is sprinkled throughout the lineup has struggled to show itself consistently, and it’s led to plenty of lineup tweaking by manager Will Venable over the last handful of weeks.

Nevertheless, what we saw against the Athletics inspired some confidence. Over the course of their three games, the Sox managed to score 22 runs and compile 33 hits. This included posting 16 extra base hits and a staggering eight home runs. Munetaka Murakami deserves a lot of credit for that power hitting, as he hit a bomb in each game of the series for the second time this year.

However, the Sox also saw some great swings from Colson Montgomery, who they have been to get into a rhythm. Montgomery came into the series batting a mere .172 in his 73 plate appearances. In this series alone, he was a much improved .364 with a total of four hits, four RBIs, and three walks.

Of course, Montgomery isn’t going to single-handedly drag this Sox offense out of the mud, but he continues to have as much star upside as anyone in the lineup. The team needs him to lead by example and look more confident at the plate. Strikeouts have been a problem for the White Sox all year, and Montgomery has been one of the main culprits. He has struggled with making contact with balls inside the strike zone, and his swinging strike percentage is currently a career high.

The return of Everson Pereira has also worked in the Sox’ favor as of late. One of the organization’s latest reclamation projects, Pereira arrived this offseason after struggling heavily in the batter’s box with New York and Tampa Bay. To his credit, though, he has been one of the Sox’ hottest hitters this year and leads the team with a .297 batting average.

Pereira went 4-9 during this latest series and hit three doubles. The outfielder is seeing the ball extremely well and flashing an ability to make consistently hard contact. The fact that he was also able to pick up right where he left off after a stint on the IL is encouraging and speaks to the adjustments he’s been able to make.

Chase Meidroth’s Hitting Streak

While we’re on the topic of offensive improvement, we would be remiss not to mention the strides taken by Chase Meidroth in recent weeks. Starting the season as the lead-off batter, manager Will Venable has recently taken that burden off his shoulders. To be sure, Meidroth was back at No. 1 on Sunday for the series finale, but that was his first time since April 11 against the Kansas City Royals.

So, what has happened since Meidroth started to move up and down the order? The second-year infielder has recorded at least one hit in five consecutive games. He’s even recorded two hits in three of those outings.

Now, it’s worth mentioning that none of these have gone for an RBI. However, his ability to get on base has undoubtedly played a role in the Sox’ larger run count. He has touched home plate six times in this same six-game sample size. The only game he failed to score a run was in the team’s extra innings loss to the Athletics.

Noah Schultz Gets First Win

After a tough first inning in his debut last week, Noah Schultz has looked almost as good as advertised.

The six-foot-ten flamethrower took the mound for the series finale against the Athletics and pitched a nearly perfect 5.0 innings. The home run he allowed in the bottom of the second was his only hit and earned run of the day. Meanwhile, he walked only one batter and managed to strike out six.

Schultz leaned heavily on his four-seamer and repeatedly attacked the outside of the box. He was also far more balanced with the remainder of his arsenal, throwing an equal number of sinkers, sweepers, and change-ups, according to statcast. For what it’s worth, the increased number of change-ups was arguably his most notable change from the opener. He only ended up throwing two against the Rays, whereas he tossed 14 this time and forced a few swinging strikes.

Overall, Schultz’ performance proved to be exactly what the Sox needed to close out the series. The fact that he was able to go deeper into the game meant his manager could go straight to some of his best arms for some quick, high velocity work.

A Little More History for Munetaka

Munetaka Murakami is one of the most fascinating players in baseball at the moment. While he may only have a batting average of .208 on the season, his OPS sits at .918.

Why? Well, for being a power hitter, Murakami is remarkably disciplined at the plate. He refuses to chase outside pitches and has forced pitchers to either send him to first or throw him something to smash. The Athletics obviously struggled with this and ended up allowing three homers in three games to the Japanese star. They also walked him three times in the second game of the series.

According to Sarah Lang, Murakami is now the first player since at least 1900 to record 20+ walks and 5+ home runs in his first 22 career games. He’s also one of only two players in the last 70 years to compile that many walks in his first 22 games. How crazy is that?

As of publishing, the only players to record more walks that Murakami are Mike Trout and Nick Krutz. His eight home runs are also tied for the third most in baseball behind Yordan Alvarez and Aaron Judge. Murakami is truly proving to be a special and one-of-one talent, and it already makes you wonder how valuable the Sox may begin to view him for their future.