The White Sox went to Miami at 0-3 after getting swept in Milwaukee, got their first win of the season in the most enjoyable game they've played all year, and then lost the next two by a combined score of 19-2. They're 1-5. They've been outscored 52-21. The defense has allowed runs that no pitching staff can overcome. And their Opening Day starter has a 21.00 ERA.
But for one night β Monday's 9-4 win β this team looked like something. And that night is worth remembering even as the rest of the series tries to erase it.
Vargas Owned Monday Night
Miguel Vargas, a Miami resident born in Cuba, went back home and had the game of his life. A career-high 6 RBI. A 402-foot grand slam off a hanging Chris Paddack changeup in the fourth β the Sox's second grand slam in as many days after Montgomery's blast in Milwaukee, marking the first time the franchise had hit grand slams in back-to-back games since June 2006. He drove in a run with a single in the third and added a sac fly in the sixth. Dozens of family and friends were in the stands at loanDepot Park.
Austin Hays added a three-run homer for his first as a White Sox player. Everson Pereira doubled and scored twice. Davis Martin pitched five solid innings, Sean Newcomb struck out five in long relief, and Jordan Hicks closed it out for his first save in Chicago. It was the best all-around performance of the season, and it showed what the lineup looks like when multiple bats connect on the same night.
Then the Defense Imploded
Tuesday's 9-2 loss was defined by one sequence: Luisangel AcuΓ±a committed two errors on back-to-back plays in the fourth inning, both on throws to home plate. The first came on Owen Caissie's single that scored Liam Hicks. The second came immediately after on Heriberto HernΓ‘ndez's single that scored Caissie. Just like that, a 2-1 deficit became 4-2, and the Marlins kept piling on. The defense has been a catastrophe through six games β the infield-in strategy that Will Venable has committed to keeps backfiring, ground balls are getting through, and throws are going to wrong bases. It's the kind of sloppiness that compounds on itself and makes it impossible for a young pitching staff to survive.
Smith Is in Trouble
The biggest concern coming out of this series isn't the Marlins series loss β it's Shane Smith. The Opening Day starter was shelled again in Wednesday's 10-0 loss, giving up 8 hits and 7 earned runs in 3 innings against a Marlins lineup that scored four before the Sox saw a single pitch from Sandy Alcantara. His ERA through two starts: 21.00. The fastball command that haunted him in spring training has carried directly into the regular season, and there's no obvious alternative waiting in the wings β Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith are both at Triple-A, and the rest of the rotation has its own problems.
Smith was asked during spring training for a phrase he hates. His answer: "It's only spring training." Two starts in, that reads like a warning nobody heeded.
Alcantara Was on Another Level
There's no shame in getting shut out by Sandy Alcantara when he's pitching like that. The 2022 NL Cy Young winner threw a 93-pitch complete game shutout β a Maddux β for the first complete game of the 2026 MLB season. He struck out 7, scattered 3 singles, didn't walk a batter, and extended his scoreless streak to 15 innings. The Sox managed nothing. It was the kind of start where you tip your cap and move on. The problem is that moving on means going home at 1-5 with the home opener two days away.
Montgomery Went Quiet
After the grand slam in Milwaukee that announced his 2026 arrival, Colson Montgomery went 1-for-12 across the three games in Miami. The Year 2 adjustment is starting β pitchers are attacking him differently now that they've seen a full half-season of tape, and the swing-and-miss tendencies that defined his rough spring training (.182 average) are resurfacing. The talent is obvious. The consistency is the next frontier. The Sox need him to find it sooner rather than later.
Where Things Stand
Through two series: 1-5, last in the AL Central, outscored by 31 runs. The pitching staff has a collective ERA north of 8.00. The defense has committed errors in four of six games. Shane Smith, the Opening Day starter, is the worst pitcher in the rotation. The only series result so far is two losses.
And yet β Vargas showed he can carry the lineup when he's right. Murakami still has 3 homers in his first 6 MLB games. Hays has a homer. Pereira has shown life. Newcomb looked like a real weapon in Game 1's bullpen. The pieces are there. They're just not all showing up on the same night often enough.
The Sox come home Friday for the home opener against Toronto. Sean Burke gets the ball β and he'll be facing Dylan Cease, the former White Sox arm who's now pitching for the Blue Jays. That storyline alone should fill some seats. It would help if the team on the field gave the fans something to cheer about.