A historic start from Chase Meidroth was quickly overshadowed by control issues, poor at-bats, and a lopsided loss for the Chicago White Sox to begin the 2026 regular season
It was an exhilarating start to the 2026 season for Chicago White Sox fans, as second baseman Chase Meidroth homered in the first at-bat of the season. It not only gave the White Sox a 1-0 lead, but also marked the first time in franchise history that the first batter of the season has hit a home run.
Maybe it was a good omen for things to come — a team ready to usher in a new era of White Sox baseball and get off to an uncharacteristically strong start. Maybe not.
That home run from Meidroth was the only real thing White Sox fans had to cheer about all afternoon, as they got pounded by the Brewers by a score of 14-2 and were dominated in every facet of the game.
It wasn't necessarily the fact that the White Sox lost. Losses are bound to happen, even ugly ones. But Opening Day was particularly frustrating for White Sox fans because of how sluggish the team looked, and how many of the little things resembled the 100-loss seasons that have unfortunately become the norm on the South Side of Chicago.
Through six innings, White Sox batters had 27 swinging strikes against Jacob Misiorowski and Aaron Ashby. In five innings against Misiorowski — a pitcher known for big stuff but inconsistent control — the White Sox swung at 18 fastballs that were not in the strike zone.
White Sox pitchers, meanwhile, issued ten (10) walks in eight innings of work. That included Jedixson Paez walking in a run — a pitcher who made the active roster specifically because of his control. Paez later gave up a three-run home run in his MLB debut.
Offensively, Chicago mustered just four hits, struck out 20 times, and after Meidroth’s home run, the lineup did not hit the ball out of the infield again until Munetaka Murakami hit a solo home run, the first of his MLB career, in the 9th inning. Sox hitters swung and missed 35 different times throughout the game.
It was, in just about every way possible, the worst baseball game the White Sox could have played — and about as bad as a team can look. Does that mean 2026 will be more of the same and doomed to another 100-loss record? Not necessarily. Plenty of teams come out flat to begin the regular season and end up doing just fine. But for an organization that no longer gets the benefit of the doubt, it didn’t do much to inspire confidence in this group.
The White Sox will have an off day on Friday and get back in action at 6:10 p.m. on Saturday night for Game 2 of a three-game set with the Brewers.
Sean Burke will get the ball, hoping to right the ship for the pitching staff and fare much better than the arms that came before him.