Chicago White Sox 2026 Wild Card Preview

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3:04Hello folks. Welcome to a new episode of the Sox Machine podcast. Part of the Fowl Territory Network. I'm your host Josh Delson. And we're recording this episode after the regular season finale as the Chicago White Sox just completed the 2026 season with a 4-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday. Thanks to big home runs Randall Gritchick and Bren Doyle against his ex teammates. Now the White Sox move on to the American League wild card. And with an 84 and 78 record, they'll be playing against the 81 and 81 Houston Astros who ended up holding off the Texas Rangers to win the American League West. This is the worst record ever for a team winning division and making the postseason. Is that good news for the White Sox? If you look at the season series, it hasn't been so much fun for the White Sox facing the Houston Astros. In this episode, we're going to recap on how the regular season went for the White Sox. A surprising season in the best way possible. Can they continue to surprise us in a good way in the postseason?

4:06And speaking of the postseason, we'll preview the White Sox and Astros wild card series and joining me in Sox Machines Managing Editor Jim Margolis and Jim. The regular season is over and typically for us the last few years. It was relief. It's sweet release from the pain that we just suffered. But we don't have that this time around. It was a very fun regular season to cover for the Chicago White Sox. And now we get to talk about postseason baseball. But before we get into the wild card series with the White Sox finishing 84 and 78, we're just wondering what's your initial reaction to man, just the ebbs and flows of this 2026 season. It was fun. It was refreshing. They did a lot of things well. They did some things poorly, but they did a good job of

5:07trying their damnedest to address the things that did poorly throughout the season. Someone things they solved, some things they did not, but did what they could to paper over to the best of their abilities. But you saw a team that I think built on their second half of the 2025 season, which that was like the first season, you know, after the previous 200-100 law seasons, where you weren't necessarily thankful the season was over or it didn't bring great relief like it was obviously another 102 law season. But there was a sensible momentum. There was a sense of pride and talent that was going to be around for a while that you thought, well, I think keep doing this. Maybe they'll get somewhere versus watching the team get stripped down for parts the previous two years and just what's left is the dregs. To see them carry that through and that preseason optimism of how they finished the season, how the wally did in the second half. And have that be not a small sample size or not pride talking, but actual belief manifested into a postseason birth is pretty remarkable. And it

6:14was fun to be around for it and fun to see just the way the White Sox won games, in ways that I think were far more unbelievable than the ways they lost games. I think the ways they lost games mostly pretty predictable. There weren't too many of like, oh my god, that's how that happened. I think there are more unbelievable victories where you they pulled the wool over the opponent's eyes. And I think that was a fun twist and a way that showed that they were actually on par with talents with a lot of the league and out desired them in a lot of ways. Like the effort was there in a fairly heady brand of baseball in a lot of ways. So yeah, I think this postseason spots deserved, especially with the American league being in a down year, like they took advantage of a lot of things going wrong around the league to benefit from this. But having seen the White Sox be the wrong thing in the American league that other teams use as a springboard, like the Royals, for instance, a couple of years ago, like just running up

7:18the score in the White Sox to get the postseason basically purely on the strength of being the White Sox to see the White Sox do the same with the Central, like, great, that's the idea. That's like that's the shortcut. That's the cheat code for getting in and they used it and no regrets. No, and if you told me at the beginning of this season that the White Sox were to finish 84 and 78, I would be a static and then making the postseason. I don't think anyone saw this happen. I know you mentioned it like on Sox machine a few days ago, this really was like the 99th percentile of all the preseason projections, like fan graphs and Dakota now simulate the season 10,000 times and that's how they get like their median. So if you look at the preseason wind total that they predicted for the White Sox, that was the most common wind total of their 10,000 simulations before the season. And yeah, I think I think fan graphs had the 80th percentile at 78 wins. So it's about the 80th percentile. Yeah, by six wins.

8:25I think I had them at 75 and 87 was my preseason prediction. So they easily, easily exceeded that. And if you told me the way they did a Josh, they're going to lead the American League in runs scored. And they're going to lead the league in walks and they're going to hit over 200 home runs. I would have been like, Hell yeah Jim, we've been waiting for this offense for a long time to come around. And we saw glimpses of that in 2021, but you know, that team just couldn't stay healthy. And that team obviously carried a heavy expectation going into that season. There wasn't any expectations for this White Sox team. A lot of people still predicted them to finish last in the American League Central. So it was a very fun ride this season. And I'm very thankful for the season that the White Sox did give us. But I also feel like this season host August 1st Jim,

9:28that the field go post did get moved. And because they were in the lead of the American League Central and the trade dead like coming up, it was really a focus on, okay, how can they complete this? They worked so hard to come back from starting the season 613 and to get the lead in the American League Central, could they really hold on to the lead? Can they outlast Cleveland and Detroit? And that time Detroit was starting to to make a run at everybody in the American League Central. They were playing a lot better baseball at that time before they traded tariff schoolable. And I wonder what the way that things ended is there regret for the White Sox not winning the American League Central. That's what I'm wondering if it will take a few weeks of this season being over for everybody to look back at what we went through because right now a couple of days before the Wildcard starts Jim, you look at that bracket and it's like, man, if the White Sox didn't,

10:33if Brian Roqueo doesn't hit that fly ball, a couple feet away from Sam Antonacci. If they could have just held on against Detroit when they were up eight to two, the White Sox would have been the second seed. And they could need they could, you know, it would be great to have this second seed because then they would have had a home playoff game and everything would have been set up for them to get the American League Championship Series. And now we know that the road is a lot harder for the White Sox. And I wonder if there is some regret surrounding the White Sox of not completing the job and winning the division. Probably just because they had a four game lead at the end of August and they finished one game back. And obviously that involves a certain degree of failure. Like you mentioned, having an opportunity to win that series in Cleveland and then the Roqueo home returning it the other way. On the other hand, like you can kind of look at those lost and see the White Sox kick themselves. On the other hand, you look at like a game like Randall Gritcha hitting a right on the right home to go ahead and St. Louis and be like, well,

11:33you weren't supposed to win that game. So I think whenever you look at walkoffs in both directions or just unlikely comebacks or unlikely squandering of leads, you do what you do. I guess when picking samples, you kind of throw out the outliers on both sides and see what the average is. And I think on par like the average, you know, the average White Sox performance was pretty good, pretty solid. They never lost more than four games in a row, which is pretty incredible. Like only two other teams did that. Braves and Diamondbacks. So that's, I think, shows their resilience. That they went seven and three after that Cleveland series. Show, they won all three series. Like if you told me that the White Sox were one game back but had the tie break over Cleveland and they would win all three series left and go seven and three against Detroit and Kansas City and Colorado, I would say they did the job. Like that should be enough to get them back into a tie and then

12:37you win on the tiebreaker. Instead, the Guardians go nine and one and clinch it going that way. So I mean, like the, I think the Guardians won the division more than the White Sox lost it. So I think at that point, you have to tip your cap and to a certain effect. So yeah, the White Sox didn't get the job done, but the Guardians just, they did the crap out of the job in September and the way they played and the way they scored, they always managed to score just enough runs, whether they held Boston or what, two runs over three games or whatever it was. And then scoring 12 runs and winning 12 to 10 or 12 to nine against Kansas City. Like they won in both ways. Like they got the job done and you just have to say, yep, that's the, that's a standard for the league. Once again, and it's the White Sox job to kind of coach themselves up and, and absorb that experience and for the White Sox front office to keep adding to understand exactly how Cleveland Cleveland's and have the White Sox develop more of a and antidote to that. Is this season the start of a run for the White Sox? This is something that I know

13:43I've been asked. I was on the score. And this topic continues to get brought up with the White Sox, mainly because the previous rebuild, they hyped it up so much Jim that it was going to be this epic run of consistent winning and no, that did not come to fruition. You know, with this season, I've been cautious like there's no guarantees, especially with 2027. We don't even know when that season is going to start. There's no guarantees that all of this production that we saw from the White Sox this year is going to carry over to next season. That's my feeling. So that's why I want the White Sox to continue play with their hair on fire and take advantage of every opportunity that they can get in the whole season because there are no guarantees that this is going to carry over in 2027 and will venable to manage the White Sox even alluded to that because he's been through anyone from Hey, we won the World Series two losing record the next year for the Texas Ranger. So he's been

14:43through it. Do you think that this season is the start of a run where we could see consecutive winning seasons for the White Sox? It could be. I think there are reasons to think that they might run into the Plexiglas principle a little bit too to where they just are a little bit worse a lot of ways in 2027 just because of the unlikely impact of like you know, Mune Taka Murakami right away and Colson Montgomery's first half, which the second half was worrisome in that regard to seeing like if he can rediscover that form and like Randall Gritchick showing up in the middle of May and like solving two positions basically by being you know, half a DH and also like filling in the outfield. That kind of stuff is unlikely to happen and the order to happen to have such a great impact and the fact that they only had 34 quality starts this year, which is the lowest in White Sox history. Like they have to do some work on the rotation to avoid the bullpen being worked that

15:45hard again because like I'm thinking like Mike Vassel as hard as he has worked in 2024 or 2025 and then like missing all the season with Tommy John surgery the next year. There might be a toll in that regard too. So I have some concerns but you know given that Chris Gets in the front office hasn't been in this position before of having to patch a winning team. Yeah. I'm willing to see like what it looks like when they have to do that versus if they're still in the acquisition mode and still like trying to find post-type prospects and other guys to give auditions to and give lots of playing time to like the original outfield is supposed to be everson Praira and Brooks Baldwin and Lisa and Helikunia like they're supposed to be those guys and that didn't happen and they were able to pivot and solve it pretty well to where they're like a top half of the league outfield or sorry actually depending on the win estimations like top 10 outfield. So they've shown

16:47the ability to find guys and solve problems so I'm not going to say that they're due for aggression. I think it's a concern that they have to keep in mind but also we just don't know what we didn't know what it looked like when the White Sox added the deadline and thank goodness that Brenton Doyle and Oscar Brazobon have salvaged their performances to show what the White Sox were thinking because it looked pretty dire there for a while to where I think you grade the deadline as like a C or like a B but you know no prospects were really harmed in the filming of that episode. So now we'll see what it looks like when they actually have to get guys who have to produce right away versus acquiring guys who are more lottery tickets or more let's give them 200 plate appearances of solid work and see what they can do like I have no idea what it looks like when the White Sox have to do that so sure I'm kind of keeping an open mind in a blank slate and not trying to have any priors because they could misinform how I read things. Yeah a lot of good things

17:53went the White Sox way this year and you've waited a lot of amount gem with the in-season acquisitions that the White Sox went through. That's why I'm not taking this season for granted and I'm not going to take this postseason for granted kind of I think that was the mistake that we all made in 2021. All right the White Sox got their butt kicked by the Houston Astros but look at this core they'll bounce back they should get 10 in 2022. Nope 81 81 they're going to bounce back they got Pedro Gryffall got worse. Yeah playing crash. Yeah but one thing that makes me optimistic in terms of the front office is like I think the Kenny Williams-Rickhan front office got complacent with all the extensions they signed and that the White Sox haven't partially because there hasn't been that killer extension candidates although McGill Vargas I think has played his way into that conversation Kyle Teal is well depending on like how you feel about him post injury and his durability

18:59but you know they haven't been particularly eager to do it either and I think that's that comforts me in a way like there's a whole lot of cost certainty and there's a whole lot of like fixtures when you look at the payroll so on one hand it makes you a little bit uneasy to not know who the cornerstones are but based on the way the White Sox handled the last time around it kind of makes me a little bit more optimistic that they they don't know what they they know what they don't know are they they are aware of what they might not know about players and so they're taking kind of a willingness to pivot if they sense that something's out working out and that might make them a little bit more flexible to where even if they have a little bit of a you know regression hampered year next year they're not going to be painted into a corner they're going to be like okay that didn't work out but yeah still our payroll is fairly clean hopefully they have more resources because of whether it's ishvia being year closer or whether it's because of better attendance and better TV ratings that they just feel they're in the more better position to invest like there are

20:03ways where even with a whole yeah a whole lot of uncertainty with their just who's going to be around in like say 2029 at least they are not saying like these are going to be the guys are going to be around and we need them to work out because our farm system has nothing to replace them with no good points good points it's been a heck of a year it's been so much fun covering this team a breath of fresh air surrounding everything regarding the Chicago White socks huge thank you to those players and the coaches for giving us a really fun team to cover this season and we are hoping that the ride continues throughout the post season so now we shift gears no more regular season talk it is all about the post season which is so exciting to talk about and that's what we're going to be talking about next on the socks machine podcast after a quick word from our sponsors cratsy just because the website says the tickets are sold out doesn't mean you can't go see the brewers in Milwaukee see the Dodgers in LA see the rays in Tampa Bay you can go to Seakeek and find

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22:10also everyone around them incanement Chicago based here to advocate on your behalf with over a hundred attorneys and staff if you or some of you know as questions about a work injury call 312 6 million injury law made personal that's incanement law hey this is James from Raiders of the lost podcast we've learned over and over on our show while talking to people and entertainments that success comes when you bet on yourself how many times have we talked to an actor who took a big risk with a challenging role because they believed that they could pull it off well it's a lot easier to take those risks when you've got the practical stuff covered and that's what Geico does so well imagine an actor driving to set to film the scene that's going to win them an Oscar they're focusing on the scene not on dealing with managing an insurance claim because Geico is handling that and they don't even expect a shout out in the acceptance speech Geico provides peace of mind and they'll do the same for you maybe it's not an Oscar winning performance maybe it's building a

23:13career starting the business you've dreamed about or just taking care of your family whatever you're betting on Geico will make sure you're covered learn more at Geico dot com this is Matt Rogers from Los Cultures this with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang this is Bowen Yang from Los Cultures this Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang okay we've been talking about QB Mail for a minute now bow and wow the feedback we're getting I mean so many of y'all love this stuff you're stopping us in the street going I love QB and if you're thinking wait what is QB do you not have the internet it's the OG Japanese mayonnaise the one with the red cap and the little baby on the bottle once you know what you're starting seeing it everywhere people ask what makes it different from basic mayo will the answer egg yolks QB is made with egg yolks only giving it this incredibly rich umami flavor that elevates everything burgers fries sandwiches chicken noodles chefs use it restaurants use it people who really love food and flavor use it whatever you're eating QB hit so if you haven't tried

24:17QB yet find the bottle with the red cap and see what everyone's talking about you'll understand QB the original Japanese mayonnaise welcome back to the socks machine podcast let's take a look at the whole season bracket as the Chicago white socks over in the American League are the six seed and they'll be traveling to Houston in the wild card as the Astros are the number three seed four or five once again as the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox as Boston be traveling to the Bronx to face the Yankees your number one seed is Tampa a raise and the number two seed is a Cleveland Guardians over the National League number one seed the Milwaukee Brewers 103 wins this year hot damn number two seed the Los Angeles Dodgers the reigning champs your third seed is the Atlanta Braves will be facing the Philadelphia Phillies who got in on the last day that got tight on the Phillies and then out in San Diego what a fascinating series this is the Padres against the Chicago Cubs this should be a really fun postseason with how the bracket is set up white socks and

25:21Astros not a great time for the white socks against the Houston Astros this year the white socks ended up going two and five against the Astros but when you take a look at the runs scored against the Astros pretty tight the Astros and seven games against the white socks scored 31 runs the white socks scored 28 runs however these games weren't necessarily closed the closest they ever were was a two run loss for the white socks they were shut out two to nothing by Houston earlier in September and the two victories for the white socks they blew out the Houston Astros in July 26 by a final score of 12 to three and then on September 2nd the white socks one five to one so once again Jim white socks and Astros in the postseason didn't go great at 2021 it would wonderful in 2005 how do you feel about this particular matchup at a three game wild card setup

26:22not a fan I was hoping for the Rangers not necessarily because like the Astros are a superior team but I don't like all three games in Houston the white socks I looked it up since 2021 including the postseason series there the white socks are six and 17 in Houston and it's not great partially the park like the Crawford boxes the weird cutout after the Crawford boxes and the little archways with the walls that create weird bounces and the yellow stripe that makes some homers that don't look like homers homers like it's a bad feeling when you lose games on balls hit the left field just in it feels like and there is a home field advantage that the Astros are using this year like they they haven't been that good at home this year so there is no reason to think necessarily that the Astros are hard wired to play well there and and are going to take advantage of it and and every team

27:23would be at a disadvantage but it just feels like with the way the white socks have played with the outfielders they've run out there to where they don't necessarily cover the most ground or have the most experience and knowing the angles and and the winded jump and when to play caroms and such it can just get ugly or like innings can you ugly or bad at balls that don't look all that imposing off the bats like end up in the first row so that's why like I was hoping for global life field of just a big kind of cavernous feeling park that doesn't feel like it offers anything particularly weird like it's not a not an attractive stadium like it's not it always looks dark when you watch it on TV kind of like chase field it always looks like kind of a warehouse now now a visually appealing place he used to look more like a ballpark but also like a just a more gimmicky ballpark even though they took tells Hill out of center field and just I just don't like the way it plays and the weird bounces that sometimes make one run and in into a three run and you know game turns in weird ways this you said Astros team also has some veteran experience

28:30they've been there done that especially like Jose Altouve and Yordon Alvarez we'll talk more about Yordon Alvarez in our wild card preview that's what concerns me and the high octane arms as well like Hunter Brown is a problem for the white socks and if the Astros have a lead late if he's feeling alright Josh Hader is also going to be a problem for the white socks and especially the white socks left headed bats in this series yeah being so left handed dependent for the white socks they they got the lefties don't really go opposite field gym thinking about it they don't none of them can I they can I mean mood to talk more comedy can but Colson Montgomery doesn't go to left field often where I feel like yeah I feel like you're on Alvarez well Yordon Alvarez is so much power doesn't even matter I mean he makes that upper deck and right field feel close yeah it will be

29:34all about like the right handed bats like which right handed bats like him Miguel Vargas pull a righty picture into the Crawford boxes can chase my draw to that you bring up a good point the whole field of anature why this just feels uneasy like I knew that it wasn't good gym but when you mentioned the white socks are six and seventeen and used it oh man that doesn't feel great that does not feel great but at the same time though it's not like the Houston Astros are playing great baseball like the macro view you have two of the best home run hitting teams going up against each other in this wild card round the Houston Astros led the majors with 225 home runs this year the white socks hit 211 when it came to OPS the Houston Astros led the American League with a 731 OPS the white socks weren't far behind they were at 726 so for everyone on the outside who doesn't know much about the Astros and white socks this is how this game is going to be hyped up that it's

30:38two of some of the best offenses in the American League going up against each other in this wild card round in Houston and maybe that's what makes the white socks scary gym is that they did lead the American League in runs scored so can they take advantage of the ballpark they kind of did last time they're in Houston but again they still lost three out of four against the Astros and with with how those games went for the white socks gym that's what makes me uneasy about this wild card matchup and with you if it was the Rangers I have all the confidence in the world the white socks should win this series and we should get guardians of white socks the division series but because it's the Astros it makes me uneasy but is that just scar tissue from 2021 maybe yeah no it's the white socks and especially the way they finish the season like if they were the early September version of the white socks and they backed into the postseason then you might think that this is they they look like

31:41sitting ducks for a team that's more experienced and we'll just kind of get run out of Houston but they finished playing better they obviously they played three teams that were not in contention but they handled those teams they they played you know aside from like the one game against the Rockies but when three series against three teams to roll like that's that's good baseball and they show the ability of score runs and ambush pitchers early and such so they should be able to like they they shouldn't feel when they step on the field that we're lucky to be here or that you know the odds are against us but if they can get off to one of those starts I think where they have the big crooked number early obviously that feels like reductive analysis like yeah the team of scores first wins other team scores five runs the first thing they're more likely to win but just something that shows that they won't get clogged up against a decent pitching staff or like a pitching staff that's lined up to be very aggressive with their best pitcher usage like that's kind of what I'm looking to

32:45see is just one inning that kind of shows like yeah we belong to be you know we deserve to be here we belong in this field and they play like an offense that can score three runs in any well I think to your point you've been mentioning the first five innings of these games is going to be critical for the white socks can the white socks offense give their bullpen a three run four run cushion knowing that yes there's going to be some high leverage situations when the big boppers for the assters are coming up because again they've led the league in home runs so that's always a threat later on I do think that point is still valid can the white socks in the first five innings have a lead and have a multi run lead to give them the cushion for that bullpen to hold on because I've been uneasy for the white socks bullpen to try to hold a one run lead for four more innings gym and I will still remain uneasy so I still think that is a good point it's not reductive in analysis I'm trying to back you up here buddy I do think you make a good point the first five

33:48innings will be critical and how the white the white socks win those first five innings against the astros I think it'll go a long way in trying to win this series against them but continuing as far as our analysis we take a look at what's on deck from Fox one and will be on Fox streaming out Fox one the race to October starts now we have your front row seat to the wildest walkoffs lights out pitching and clutch plays all season long follow every camp miss matchup as teams battle for spot in the post season then stream the 2026 world series live on Fox one at home or on the go live or on demand never miss a moment stream now start your Fox one three day free trial today at Fox one dot com and our ever be on Fox topic who will be the white socks X factor in this wild card series against the Houston Astros so Jim I'll start with you who do you think could be the full chrome X factor for the white socks to lead them to victory against the Astros

34:53my first thought was Munitaka Murakami but then that felt a little bit too obvious like he if he's good the white socks good so I'm going to go with Sam Antonacci just because I'm curious to see what somebody wired like him how that affects him in the post season for better for worse does he have some kind of base running player play in the field like we saw in the world baseball classic that captures headlines with his ingenuity or creativity or just willingness to try something that other people won't try will there be like a slide in the second base that create some controversy or like a straight elbow somewhere that you know tries to throw the Astros off does he somehow put a ball in the first row of the Crawford boxes because he hasn't homeried over the last 52 games a lot of his best contact is going the other way he might be the one left handed batter who is best equipped to like doing a ball off that wall or or just shoot one over so he seems like somebody who could have some unexpected production in weird ways that grab some headlines and kind of give the white

35:59socks a boost where you know they thought it's like Murakami and Vargas and like the middle of that order and Antonacci comes and kind of steal some headlines. Okay I like that one because like continue I feel like Sam Antonacci is this team's version of AJ Prasinski like Antonacci's get a slide he's gonna throw an elbow maybe the bench is clear during this during this series against the Astros he's the instigator you know he gets things going for the white socks so I love that as an X factor my X factor is going to be chase my draw it may surprise you but in the seven games this year chase my draw was the best hitter for the white socks against Houston Astros pitching and we have seen some surprising power from chase my draw even though it's slower bat speed which isn't normal in today's Bayjaleague baseball but I wonder would chase my draw at batting the bottom part of the lineup against the right handed starter if he comes through with a surprising home run and really

37:00help out the white socks to get that cushion the first five innings but let us know in the comments section on our YouTube channel or on sockspecine.com or on social media who you guys think will be the white socks X factor in this wild card series against the Houston Astros. Hey this is James from Raiders of the Lost Podcast we've learned over and over on our show while talking to people and entertainment that success comes when you bet on yourself how many times have we talked to an actor who took a big risk with a challenging role because they believed that they could pull it off well it's a lot easier to take those risks when you've got the practical stuff covered and that's what Geico does so well imagine an actor driving to set to film the scene that's going to win them an Oscar they're focusing on the scene not on dealing with managing an insurance claim because Geico is handling that and they don't even expect a shout out in the acceptance speech Geico provides peace of mind and they'll do the same for you maybe it's not an Oscar winning performance maybe it's building a career starting the

38:05business you've dreamed about or just taking care of your family whatever you're betting on Geico will make sure you're covered learn more at Geico.com this is Matt Rogers from Lost Culture East US with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang this is Bowen Yang from Lost Culture East US Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang okay we've been talking about Cupid male for a minute now bow and wow the feedback we're getting I mean so many of y'all love this stuff you're stopping us in the street going I love Cupid and if you're thinking wait what is Cupid uh do you not have the internet it's the OG Japanese mayonnaise the one with the red cap and the little baby on the bottle once you know what you start seeing it everywhere people ask what makes it different from basic mayo will the answer egg yolks Cupid is made with egg yolks only giving it this incredibly rich umami flavor that elevates everything burgers fries sandwiches chicken noodles chefs use it restaurants use it people who really love food and flavor use it whatever you're eating Cupid

39:06so if you haven't tried Cupid yet find the bottle with the red cap and see what everyone's talking about you'll understand Cupid the original Japanese mayonnaise chat GPT can do more than answer questions it can help you get real work done chat GPT work is built for bigger projects with multiple steps you bring the goal along with the information it needs like briefs notes files feedback calendars data sets or project plans then chat GPT can help turn all of that into something useful an analysis a tracker a deck outline a prototype or a workflow you can keep it can also use approved apps connected tools files and browser context to help move the work forward and you stay in control you give direction review drafts approve actions redirect the work and choose the final output so you spend less time sorting through busy work and more time making progress on the work that matters put chat GPT to work on your most ambitious ideas

40:10get started at chat GPT dot com by selecting work mode available on plus and pro plans and then the two matchups for the Chicago white socks are to be really key in this lineup and that is your down Elvarez and Jeremy Pena let's start with the good news the white socks actually did a really good job against your own Elvarez this year even though your on Elvarez is probably going to be the American the MVP Elvarez this year against the white socks for for 20 with just a double no home runs yes he did walk eight times but the white socks did strike him out six times and he had only one RBI against white socks pitching this year if the white socks beat the Astros in this wild card series Jim it's going to be critical for them to continue to contain your down Elvarez do you think they can I think so that tends to be a strategy that shifts the focus to other players yeah kind of like the whole idea of we can't let your down Elvarez

41:15beat us if we have a choice and with those eight walks it showed that yeah they were content to face somebody else or nibble or just not give anything over the heart of the plates let them take a walk or intentionally walk them and it worked out well like they had a plan of attack that worked out sometimes as we'll get to the pressure shifted to somebody else who stepped up like the I think over the course of the season series the white socks you had allowed a number of key hits to other Astros that were not your down Elvarez so you know part of the reason why Elvarez is such a force is that yeah sometimes you get them out but you spend a lot of thought and energy and effort into getting them out or not getting them out were you working around him and you know it's just extra stress extra pitches extra toll extra pitchers required that I think you know creates this sense of fatigue or just stresses out a pitching staff or a manager to where like mistakes can be made elsewhere yes and I wonder because

42:19Elvarez always looms in the first inning if we do see an opener in each game gym now who that opener is is it I think you have to vary you can't have the same guy like maybe you have Sean new come open game one or Brian Hudson open game one for the white socks but I don't think you should repeat that same guy going to game two I don't mind using a left-handed lever to open these games just to get that at bat out of the way so to prevent you are not Elvarez from hurting you early so I do wonder if that is how the pitching is going to work out in this series that each game will feature an opener and I know that's going to anger a lot of white socks fans but I think it has to be because of your on Elvarez you don't want Elvarez to hurt you in that first inning so I guess I'm okay with it but you have a variety of lefties in your bullpen Hudson new come

43:20even Hagen Smith or even Noah Schultz I think I would tie this side with new come Hudson and Schultz in that order for opening these games Jim do you agree with the the idea of using a left-handed lever to open these games because of Elvarez at first my thought was no because when the white socks faced Elvarez the splits are pretty neutral and so they threw lefties and like there's a case of yeah but is it more effort than it's worth because Elvarez is destroying everybody right now but over the last couple months a split did develop and that's part of the reason why Elvarez like didn't you know he put the MVP in jeopardy I think it's still win the MVP but for you know some of September at least there was some jeopardy or he did invite other candidates in the conversation and looking at it since the start of august you're talking about 172 at bats against lefties only slug 364 236 batting average 295 OBP right easy crushed so there was a split that developed to

44:23where if they did go with a an opener I think I would prefer Noah Schultz over Brian Hudson just Hudson strikes me as a little bit to contact prone to where like it can blow up on him Schultz is more of a starter like it feels like you're using him in his natural role even as opener and it's more a matter of just like kind of cutting them off versus using them out of place and saving uh you know not saving experience reliever for relief experiences later in the series in postseason environments like I think I'd rather have Schultz go into what feels normal for him in a in a situation that will be unprecedented for him so yeah if he if you know Will Venombo goes with Schultz and like Eric Fettie or David Sandlin or something like that that strikes me as sensible and if Schultz um implodes then I'm not going to blame the opener whereas with Hudson it feels like yeah I guess you're hoping for three outs and if you don't get even there then it feels like a real

45:26big failure whereas like Schultz if you get those one two three inning do you try to go a second inning do you try to go a third inning if it's really easy for him and then you get more value I think out of the opener proposition versus like crossing your fingers three outs and you still have eight innings to go after that yeah I wonder also how Astros manager Joe Espada will protect you're not over as because if you have ridys that crush lefties that can also go way worth two where wow this doesn't really feel like an effective strategy could the to your point like this may be too cute or too much effort focusing on one hitter while the rest of the parts of the lineup are just paper cutting you to death with singles all over the place or they hit in early home run or two uh and it doesn't really matter what you're not alvarez is doing because the damage is already been done it would be interesting to see how Will Venombo handles this but you're not alvarez always looms large in these games and so far the White Sox strategy of containing york on alvarez has worked can't say the same for Jeremy Pena and this I think might be the

46:32critical match up for White Sox pictures Pena this year against the White Sox is hitting three forty five he's slugging five fifty two he has a couple home runs he has been the best hitter for the Houston Astros against White Sox pictures and there's seven games this season how do you slow down Jeremy Pena Jim I mean he is not someone that takes his walks but he makes great contact and he definitely has power how can the White Sox slow them down you can't or like I don't know if there's a game plan necessarily for him like yeah I don't think I mean like he doesn't take his walk so he's somebody who like it's almost like it's not as bad as Havier Bias but in the case of Pena it's just like you have to count him getting his hits just because he's wired to get hits you know that's he gets a lot of his value from batting average so you can't necessarily think like we have to prevent Jeremy Pena from getting hits I think that's kind of a fool's errand a little bit

47:32and it's more about just you know he's fairly split neutral when it comes to batting average the power shows up against lefties sees the ball better against lefties but he still gets hits against both so I guess like you can avoid having lefties in there against him as much as possible but I think it's more a matter of you know in terms of letting somebody beat you just kind of being conscious of like how much a single is worth and how much a double is worth and how much a home worth is worth in terms of just how you go about attacking him or oh well he's so welcome see if he gets himself out but I think he's in terms of he's tough because if somebody's on base and you have to pitch to him he has a big zone that he can hit with and he can use his home park fairly effectively and so yeah you're leaving stuff in God's hands a little bit for just how it'll all pay an out because you know batting average and balls and play will come into effect and so as much as he's pester the white socks this year you can also go cold against the white socks because of his play discipline and sometimes he gets himself out because he doesn't take his walks

48:38so as much as he's been a thorn on the side of the white socks so far like he can easily go cold and he's not a factor when the season kind of pans out so that's why he's somebody to definitely be conscious of but I think also you can drive yourself nuts a little bit and trying to plan around him when somebody's abilities are based on the hit tool and sometimes hits come up and then drop and find grass other times they don't no good points good points and we'll continue with previewing each of the games for this wild card match between the white socks and astros as we I will be podcasting remotely over at three and move a theater and off hours brewery on Tuesday and Wednesday again with the game starting at four o'clock central time we'll be having our pregame show starting at three o'clock central time leading up to first pitch between the white socks and astros again these games are an NBC and peacock if you do have the peacock app so you can

49:38watch it on your smartphone if you're still at work at least a few few first innings if you're working from home come join us as we move a theater will have the game on and they have excellent beers and they'll have food the kitchen will be open on Wednesday and Thursday as well so definitely join me and Jim will be joining me remotely and we'll have other fun guests as well join us for the pregame shows and then after each game Jim and I will have a post game podcast as well ready for you guys in the morning to recap everything that happened in that game because these are huge games for the Chicago white socks movie for it and it's so much fun I know we've been podcasting so much in the last couple of weeks for man I tell you it's easy work Jim podcasting 121 lost season that's tough this is easy it's easy to get for the microphone and talk about exciting games and these are exciting times and I can't wait for this series to start even though

50:40I feel a little bit uneasy I'm open to the possibilities to be surprised because that's been the theme of this season in the best way possible this has been a fantastic surprise by the Chicago white socks in 2026 and my hope is that it continues and they get at least one home playoff game that is the goal for me for the white socks can you get back home and play a home game the divisional series against the cleaving guardians Jim that's if they can do that then everything else is icing on the cake everything's gravy whatever food analogy or metaphor you want to use I'm good with but that's my hope for the white socks do you have any early hopes you for the postseason game start for the white socks I have a vow or I have an exercise for everybody to think of and you know when it comes to the white socks playing in October in first time since 2021 we have not been subject to this but one of the reasons why I prefer regular season baseball to October is that everything gets framed through

51:44what did the manager do wrong and yeah that's my least favorite you know sometimes manager did something wrong other times in most of the time I feel player succeeded or failed and so as we process these games you I at least want to look at it first through what did the player do what did the hitter do what did the pitcher do what did the defender do start from that prism and then work backwards to like was the player in a position you should have been in and then go from there like it when you kind of drill down to like shush on new come be over there Brian Hudson like they're both yeah they're both had good seasons you know they like it doesn't come down yeah one of them is going to have to be used in the situation at some point if a lefty beat some that's baseball that's players succeeding and failing in a zero-sum game so as we discuss these games and as we think about these games erect these games let's not try to make it all about like the button pushing in the dugout

52:50let's try to make it about athletic feats being done and the reaction times being amazing and sometimes players making or great decisions and making poor ones and then let's get to the strategic part of it afterwards no well done Jim I think we will all try I know I will I know many will fail yeah I still like comments every series and this is the white socks thing it's a it's a baseball thing of just the manager's always seem to be main characters and that's it's just I it's not fun to me or like it's not the reason why I'm like captivated by baseball so I'm hoping that Will Vennibolt is making this like if he comes out for a second mound visit in the first sitting again then yeah it's different yeah we're going yeah it's he's gonna get pillar reading and should but assuming that he's making the decision that he's been making most of the year just it's probably and there's a lot of button mashing and lever pulling with the white socks give it how many

53:55swaps they make and relievers they use and openers they use and pitch hitters and such like I have a feeling that he's going to be front and center of all these conversations but I'm going to try it because I this is how I prefer to watch baseball just like really trying to make it about did the player succeed or fail because to me that's way more fun like at a regular season baseball that's what it's all about like players having great seasons players having poor seasons uh and you know when you get into such a small sample becomes about decisions and I still really prefer it to be about the talent all right no I like it I let's all try everyone listening to this and watching this let's all try for Jim sake and Will Vennibolt please do what you can to not make it about you yeah yeah let's not be Yankees fans on Aaron Boone which they have enough drama with the whole Aaron judge situation good like the fillies have done or like the fillies watching

54:56the fillies that Don Maddingley and using Aaron Nola like on two days rest and having that blow it like yeah just nothing like that nothing like that nothing like that nothing like that well that will do it for this episode of the socks machine podcast again we have so much coming your guys his way our next episodes will be on Tuesday again we'll have a pre-game stream we'll have a post game show as well on Tuesday and Wednesday this is the exciting times this is kind of how we're going to carry out throughout the post season so thank you so much for sticking around with us and of course visit us daily at socks machine dot com as we'll have all the written content as well and the previews and recaps of the games there too any be part dissipating if you don't want to chat with strangers on social media you can sign up to become a socks machine subscriber at socks machine dot com slash products and you can comment along the game it's been in the hundreds during our first pitch game threads on socks machine dot com so you know that you're chatting with fellow white socks fans

55:58but that will do it for this episode of the socks machine podcast thank you guys so much for watching and listening if you just discovered the socks machine podcast if you're subscribed to the show wherever you listen to podcasts such as potify and apple music this is a video podcast now so you can watch the show on our youtube channel at youtube dot com slash sock machine if you do watch any of our videos on our youtube channel please hit the subscribe button we greatly appreciate it follow us on social media where all the social media platforms add socks machine you can follow me add socks machine underscore Josh machine podcast is a production of socks machine dot com you're for all the things Chicago white socks baseball and part of the file territory network alongside Jim Margulis I'm Josh Nelson thanks for watching and listen oh in business there's the easy way with staples or the hard way hard means new office opening Kevin fun a cleaning supply vendor break we need furniture Susan gets someone to deliver coffee move move

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