Fewer than two months remain in the 2025 season.
And there is still plenty that manager Will Venable wants to see out of the Chicago White Sox.
“We have a young group who’s experiencing a major-league season for the first time,” Venable said. “So, are we doing all the things in the weight room to stay strong, to stay healthy, things in the training room — the dog days are upon us. And can we survive those and not have dips in performance because we’re tired and grinding?
“That will be something that I’m interested in.”
Venable discussed what has stood out to him since the All-Star break, and what he’s keeping an eye on in the final 40-plus games, with the Tribune ahead of last week’s series finale in Seattle.
The Sox lost that game to the Mariners at T-Mobile Park in heartbreaking fashion, 4-3 in 11 innings. That defeat was part of a six-game skid that ended with Sunday’s 6-4 victory against the Cleveland Guardians.
Even with the recent slide, the Sox rank among the major-league leaders in several offensive categories since the break. They entered Monday’s series opener against the Detroit Tigers at Rate Field leading the major leagues with 40 home runs after the break. They were also third in runs per game (5.7), fourth in slugging percentage (.478) and OPS (.803) and sixth in average (.267).
“We’ve talked about fastball performance, offensively, where it’s been a focal point,” Venable said. “We underperformed (earlier), really across the board. And then to have an entire group kind of flip the script on that and make a real collective effort to make some changes and seemingly hold each other accountable, it has been awesome.
“We’ve just continued to be really consistent with our approach, taking really good swings and on being aggressive to the fastball. So offensively, that’s been a huge plus. These guys have built this kind of identity of the team throughout the year, where they continue to fight and compete. We’ve seen our bullpen, and our pitching has done a really nice job, so just really a nice collective effort in all phases.”
There have been contributions from rookies in all phases, from reliever Grant Taylor, who closed out Sunday’s game for his fourth save, to catchers Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero, and infielders Chase Meidroth and Colson Montgomery — who continued his home run barrage on Sunday.
“The thing that has stuck out with all these guys that have come up this year is they, right from the beginning, they look like they feel like they belong,” Venable said. “They’ve just got that confidence about them. They look like big leaguers, they’re walking around like big leaguers. And at the same time, you know that they have a lot to learn and a lot of development in front of them.
“And so what’s been great is watching them with the older guys, watching them with the coaches, watching them in meetings. And they’re attacking this thing as if they’ve been around longer. Their growth has been really quick. Obviously, they’re still growing every day, but they’ve really jumped in and have kind of immersed themselves in the program and the material, the information, into each other and to their teammates. And their growth, it seems like it’s been exponential.”
In the case of Montgomery, who has nine home runs and 23 RBIs in 21 games during the second half, Venable believes some of the challenges the shortstop faced in the minors have aided him in the majors.
“I think that his advantage right now, where we see young players and really the game in general, is just how quickly, when things go wrong, can you get back online and get back to who you are?” Venable said. “And I think that Colson’s advantage is that, unlike a lot of top prospects, he struggled in the minor leagues. To the point obviously where he had to go to (the team’s) Arizona (facility) and hit the reset button.
“And to deal with that adversity and to experience that and to overcome it, I think just gives him an advantage. Now, when he doesn’t have a good at-bat, maybe there’s some frustration, but then he’s clicking it right back in and getting back on track.”
The Sox got back on track Sunday. Looking ahead, Venable wants to see the growth that comes with finding ways to close out games. He pointed to the 8-5 walk-off loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Aug. 3, where the team held a 5-0 lead after five innings, as one to learn from.
“I think we’ve seen a couple different examples of our group still continuing to learn how to win,” Venable said. “There are little moments where we can continue to learn how to win, we can learn how to put teams away. I think that’s just part of being a younger team, that’s continuing to grow and understand those things. So taking a step forward in that way will be something I’ll be looking at.
“Just overall, we’ve had different phases of this season, and this last one is going to be another chapter in our story this year. We’ll see how it looks.”
