The 3 Most Important White Sox Players for a Playoff Push
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Sitting at 36-31 and atop the American League Central, the Chicago White Sox have shocked the baseball world with their hot start to the year.
Obviously, it's a long season and a lot still has to go right for Chicago, but the early returns have been excellent.
There are a ton of X-factors on this team. However, these three players are the most important for a playoff push. They either need to keep up their production or step up their game for the White Sox to make a successful run toward their first postseason since 2021.
Davis Martin Needs to Keep Dealing
Davis Martin has been a revelation for the White Sox this year. After a career year in 2025, where he started 25 games and pitched to a 4.10 ERA, he has followed that up with a 2.41 ERA through 13 games.
Martin has been absolutely dominant, pitching 78.1 innings and striking out 79 batters, walking just 17. He's also not giving up nearly as much hard contact, with 0.3 home runs per nine innings, the best in the league.
His dominant season continued on Wednesday against an impressive Atlanta Braves lineup, where he outdueled Chris Sale. It's safe to say that in order for the White Sox to make the playoffs and possibly make a run, Martin needs to continue to look like a true ace.
Colson Montgomery Needs to Step it Up
While Colson Montgomery has built off a strong rookie season, he still has some things to work on to hit the next stratosphere of excellence.
Despite having a 2.0 bWAR with 16 home runs and an .801 OPS, as well as an elite +11 Outs Above Average, Montgomery desperately needs to work on a couple of things.
First off, he needs to cut down the strikeouts. Montgomery has struck out a whopping 83 times in 64 games, with a 30.7 strikeout rate and 38.2 whiff rate, both near the bottom of the league, per Baseball Savant.
Secondly, he needs to do better with runners in scoring position. Despite being in this situation more than the vast majority of players in the league (86 plate appearances), Montgomery is hitting only .200 with runners in scoring position, with 22 runs driven in and a .636 OPS. That must improve for the White Sox to continue their strong start.
Munetaka Murakami Needs to Pick Up Where He Left Off
The White Sox have surprised the league by staying at the same level, despite losing their star first baseman Munetaka Murakami to injury.
While it's not necessarily a long-term injury, soft tissue injuries can be troublesome. Murakami needs to regain his All-Star form when he inevitably returns.
While scouts and teams thought Murakami wouldn't be this successful at this level, he has proven them wrong. In 57 games, Murakami has hit 20 home runs with a .938 OPS, showing he can get on-base and hit for power at an elite rate.
Murakami is arguably the White Sox's best player at this juncture of the season. And he needs to return strong for Chicago to make the playoffs. Every postseason squad has its star!
As long as these three do these things, the White Sox should be in a strong position to make the playoffs in a weak American League and maybe even go on a real run. Can you believe it?
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Matthew Singer is a contributor for White Sox on SI. Before joining SI in 2026, he worked for Heavy as an MLB contributor and Cubs on SI. Singer has a master's degree in sports journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. He loves sports more than anything in the world.