By the numbers: Behind what's powering a Chicago White Sox surge into the month of May

White Sox building confidence + Bulls zeroing in on Matt Lloyd? | Chicago Sports Tonight

ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rogers and 104.3 The Score’s Matt Spiegel join the show to break down what’s behind the White Sox surge. After a sweep of the Angels, the Sox are gaining confidence and creeping back into the division race — is this the start of something real or just a hot stretch? Plus, we dive into the historic start from slugger Munetaka Murakami — is he already becoming the face of the franchise? And if Matt Lloyd is the right choice to lead the Chicago Bulls front office. 

The Chicago White Sox were written off at the start of the 2026 season.

Midway through April, they had a 6-13 overall record and were struggling with their offense.

Since then, it's been a turnaround of sorts.

The White Sox will head into the month of May with a 14-17 overall record. They got here thanks to a budding young core and an emerging Japanese slugging superstar.

The White Sox in April

By the numbers:

The first full month of the season showcased growth for the young White Sox. They finished the month of April with a 13-13 record.

To the Dodgers, that would be a different conversation. But this is the first time the White Sox have finished a month with a .500 record or above since they had a 13-13 record in June 2023.

The White Sox started the month of April with a 5-9 record. They rebounded to finish the month with an 8-4 record.

Will Venable's team has begun to figure things out.

Munetaka Murakami:

Munetaka Murakami has taken the MLB by storm.

The White Sox rookie hit his 12th home run of the season on April 27. That leads the majors going into the month of May.

In fact, Murakami's 12 home runs is the third time since 2000 a White Sox player has hit 10 or more home runs before the month of April.

Jose Abreu hit 10 home runs before May during the 2014 season. Jim Thome hit 10 home runs before May during the 2006 season.

In fact, Murakami's first 12 MLB extra-base hits were home runs. This is the longest such streak to the start of a player’s MLB career since at least 1900. The last longest streak was Dae-ho Lee in the 2016 season.

Beyond that, Murakami is also on pace to break the rookie home run record and the AL single-season home run record. Aaron Judge holds the AL single-season home run record with 62 homers in 2022; Pete Alomso holds the rookie home run record with 53 in 2019.

Murakami might strike out plenty of times – he's tied for third in the majors with 46 strikeouts – he's fourth among all batters in the MLB with 25 walks.

Dig deeper:

One year ago on April 29, 2025, the White Sox sent star prospect Colston Montgomery down to the team's Arizona training complex from Triple A to work on his swing.

That was seen as a major demotion. Now, it has come full circle. On April 29, 2026, Montgomery's walk-off hit to beat the Angels in extra innings clinched the .500 record for the White Sox.

Montgomery is now a full-time major-leaguer. His eight home runs remind the team there's more power behind Murakami to worry about.

There's more beyond Montgomery, too. The White Sox have been calling up plenty of players who are a part of their young prospect core.

Sam Antonacci, who was called up on April 15, sent the game to extra innings with an RBI triple in the ninth inning. Noah Schultz made his MLB debut on April 14, and earned his first MLB win on April 19.

Catcher Kyle Teel, who was injured playing for Italy in the World Baseball Classic, is set to return eventually, too.

If April shower bring May flowers, then the White Sox might bloom further in May.