Takeaways From White Sox Series Loss To Brewers

CHICAGO – A few highlights from the first 31 White Sox games can be made from Thursday's 8-0 win over the Brewers. We saw vintage Luis Robert Jr. robbing a potential grand slam and driving in four runs, Miguel Vargas extending his hit streak, Sean Burke making perhaps his best start of the season and the bullpen shutting things down with little to no worry.

"Every win is great, and you know we got a tough team coming in tomorrow," White Sox manager Will venable said. "We got to put our best foot forward and try and get another one."

That's the mentality all teams must carry, because for all the positives that came from Thursday's win, it only counts as one. The White Sox still lost the series, dropping Tuesday's game 7-2 and Wednesday's 6-5. And they're still just 8-23 on the season with four fewer wins than 28 MLB teams.

They move forward with a three-game series against the Houston Astros beginning Friday at 6:40 p.m. CT, but before we look ahead, let's reflect on the Brewers series with three takeaways.

1. Vargas, Robert heating up

After acquiring him as part of a three-team trade with the Dodgers and Cardinals last season, Miguel Vargas became a notable piece to the White Sox rebuild. But early on, that appeared to be more of a hope than a reality. He posted a .387 OPS across his first 157 plate appearances with the White Sox in 2024, then got off to a slow start in 2025 with a .139 batting average through 22 games.

Vargas may have turned a corner in late April, though. One of his recent adjustments has been holding his hands higher at the plate in an effort to hit pitches in the upper part of the zone with more force. He's on an eight-game hit streak, which includes a 5-for-10 stretch with one home run, four RBI and two runs across three games against the Brewers.

"It's been great results," Venable said. "He's instantly been able to hit balls with more authority and put some balls in play where he might have been putting them in play softly or even fouling them back before. So we've seen the consistent approach where he's had good plate discipline this whole year, and now for him to move some of these balls forward with authority, it's awesome to see him get those results."

It may have been even more disappointing for the White Sox to have former All-Star and Silver Slugger Luis Robert Jr. begin the season with a .138 batting average through 23 games. General manager Chris Getz said Tuesday it's likely that Robert starts producing more as the weather warms up, and recently that's been the case.

Robert is on a six-game hit streak, including a 5-for-12 series against the Brewers with five RBI, two runs and a stolen base in all three games. He thought he was missing pitchers' mistakes earlier in the season, but he's made them pay of late.

"I think the at-bats have been good. He just hasn’t had the pitches to do damage on," Venable said. "To have nice swings today means a lot. We know that he’s going to be right there every day. We’re going to need him to win games."

2. Bullpen, errors costly in first two games

The White Sox haven't settled on a fifth starter since Martín Pérez was place on the 60-day injured list, which led to a bullpen game of sorts on Tuesday. Tyler Gilbert served as the opener and gave up Isaac Collins' first career home run in the first before tossing a scoreless second. Bryse Wilson started off strong, but he and Brandon Eisert combined to let up four runs in the sixth as the Brewers took a 5-2 lead.

The Brewers loaded the bases in the eighth with a bunt single, hit batsman and a Vargas error. White Sox reliever Jared Shuster didn't give up much hard contact that inning, but the Brewers still managed to score twice with another infield single and a groundout, leading to a 7-2 win.

The White Sox and Brewers were tied entering the eighth inning of Wednesday's game. Cam Booser walked two of the first three batters, and the other reached on an infield single. Second baseman Lenyn Sosa's hesitated a bit too much while going after the ground ball, and his throw to first was off line. Jake Bauers made the White Sox pay for the walks and error with a two-RBI double, which turned out to be the game-winner.

The White Sox made a season-high three errors on Wednesday, and they're still looking for reliable relievers on a consistent basis.

3. What to make of these stats?

An 8-23 record is close to the preseason expectations for a White Sox team that PECOTA projected to win 60.1 games and gave a 0.1% chance to make the playoffs. That part has not been surprising. But there are a few statistics don't make as much sense.

With Thursday's 8-0 win over the Brewers, the White Sox tied the Cubs (19-13) for the most wins in MLB by seven or more runs. Both teams have done so five times this season. The White Sox have also lost 13 games by one or two runs. If all you knew about the White Sox were those two stats – put simply, a lot of big wins and a lot of close losses – one might think they're a pretty good team. Of course, it's not that simple, but here's more.

Despite having the second-worst record in MLB, the White Sox have a minus-24 run differential, which is identical to the Guardians (18-13) and better than eight teams: the Blue Jays (15-16), Orioles (12-18), Athletics (17-15), Angels (12-18), Nationals (14-18), Marlins (12-18), Pirates (12-20) and Rockies (6-25).

So if anyone's looking to be optimistic about this team, the future or both, there's some ammunition. And if anyone thinks those stats are just a product of the small sample size through 31 games and the sometimes unexplainable nature of baseball, that makes sense too.

1. Vargas, Robert heating up

2. Bullpen, errors costly in first two games

3. What to make of these stats?

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