Will White Sox surprise or return to losing habits? Anything is possible

Enjoy these hours of anticipation leading up to Thursday's opener, White Sox fans.

This feels like an “Anything Can Happen” type of season on the South Side.

Could the White Sox get off to a decent start, surprise some people and flirt with a .500 record though the all-star break? Yeah, probably.

Could the Sox come out of the gate flat, start 5-20 and never sniff wild card contention? Yes, we know that option is true.

So appreciate the possibilities while you still can. This may not be a fun summer at Rate Field, but if this promising rebuild takes a step forward, the Pope mural may not be the ballpark's biggest attraction in '26.

The key player, no doubt, is shortstop Colson Montgomery. Few players in sports history have made the switch from colossal bust to future all-star as quickly as Montgomery did last year.

The second time around is always tricky for young MLB players. Asking him to deliver 21 home runs in 71 games is probably too much to ask. His 36% strikeout rate in spring training was alarming, but exhibition games don't mean much.

If not Montgomery, maybe Miguel Vargas or Edgar Quero or Kyle Teel, when he recovers from the WBC hamstring pull, will step forward as future stars. Maybe Chris Getz was right about center fielder Luisangel Acuna, who was acquired from the Mets for Luis Robert Jr. and hit .409 this spring.

Even with all those young players trying to make a statement, the greatest unknown might be first baseman Munetaka Murakami. This is a guy who broke Sadaharu Oh's record for single-season home runs by a Japanese-born player with 56 in 2022, at age 22.

Murakami wasn't as good in '23 and '24, then an oblique injury caused him to miss roughly half the 2025 campaign. Now here he is, surrounded by a bunch of unproven, promising hitters on the White Sox.

Imagine if Murakami starts banging home runs off the Mark Buehrle statue in right field? Two parts of the world would be abuzz. Then again, the whiffs could overwhelm the dingers.

The closest thing to a proven commodity on the pitching staff is reliever Seranthony Dominguez, who has seven years in the bigs with a 3.50 ERA.

For the rest of the bullpen, Jordan Leasure should be good, Grant Taylor will bring more gas, and last year's best reliever, Mike Vasil, is out with Tommy John surgery. The team's best relief pitcher this spring might have been Mundelein native Ryan Borucki, but the left-hander was let go and signed with San Francisco.

One vital piece for Sox improvement is cutting back on the blown leads. The team's save percentage of 51% was worst in MLB last year.

The starting rotation hasn't changed much. The Sox need a repeat performance from rookie all-star Shane Smith, will seek steps forward for Davis Martin and Sean Burke, and took a gamble that former Cubs reliever Anthony Kay can bring the starter success he found in Japan back to the States.

A truly successful White Sox season would include outfielder Braden Montgomery, plus pitchers Noah Schultz and Tanner McDougal, making their MLB debuts. When it comes to important building blocks, those three sit near the top of the list.

Last year, the Sox went from a 26-55 record in the first half to 34-47 in the second half. Another jump like that and they start 42-39 this season.

Too much to ask? Maybe not. This rebuild actually looks pretty good on paper right now.

It could all crumble quickly once the White Sox actually take the field in Milwaukee.