John Schriffen explains White Sox struggles with curious theory

It’s not who you play but when you play them. If you’ve followed sports long enough, you’ve likely heard some variation of that phrase several times. Chicago White Sox announcer John Schriffen went down that road on Friday.

The White Sox were on the road on Friday night, taking on the Milwaukee Brewers. Things were largely going well for Chicago for much of the game. But the Brewers not only took the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning but blew the game completely open, scoring six runs to take a 10-5 lead. Shortly before that inning ended, Schriffen suggested that the White Sox may be a victim of their schedule.

“It feels like this run that the Sox are on, we’re catching teams at the wrong time,” Schriffen said.

Color commentator Steve Stone acknowledged that it might be part of what’s happening. But while he didn’t go into specifics, Stone suggested other issues might be plaguing the Sox.

John Schriffen: It feels like this run the White Sox are on, we’re catching teams at the wrong time.

Steve Stone: Well there’s that (Laughing). There’s a few other reasons. But that’s certainly one of them.

(H/T @jon_greenberg) pic.twitter.com/wF50scXV5h

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 1, 2024

“Well there’s that,” Stone said. Fighting through laughter, he finished his point. “There’s a few other reasons. But that’s certainly one of them.”

Stone then credited the Brewers for how well they’ve played in 2024. Certainly, that’s valid. Milwaukee has played well in 2024. Monday’s win moved the Brewers to 34-23, first place in the National League Central. If we want to look at Friday’s game and credit Milwaukee more than we blame Chicago, that’s fair.

Here’s the issue with Schriffen’s theory.

The White Sox are 15-43. That’s the worst record in all of baseball. In the American League Central, the fourth-place Detroit Tigers are closer to the division lead (10 games) than the White Sox are to them (13.5 games). Chicago’s run differential on the season is -134, easily the worst in all of MLB. The next worst team is the Colorado Rockies at -72.

Listening to this, I can’t help but think of this Tim McCarver quip: https://t.co/aOmGd43TNp pic.twitter.com/3Jg55km9YQ

— Rob Anderson (@_robanderson) June 1, 2024

Additionally, the White Sox are more than one-third of the way through the 2024 season. Given that, and that Chicago is coming off of a 101-loss season in 2023, it’s hard to say that what’s happened in 2024 has much to do with facing hot teams. If anything, the few wins the White Sox have mustered may be a product of getting teams when they were on a particular cold stretch.

[Photo Credit: NBC Sports Chicago]