How White Sox Turned ‘Organized Chaos’ Into a Postseason Weapon

A 4-0 start to the postseason has all of Major League Baseball keeping one eye on the Chicago White Sox.

Now just one win away from advancing to the ALCS, it's becoming undeniable that this group has a little bit of magic to it. These White Sox are young, hungry, and they don't know what they don't know.

They show up to the ballpark every day believing they can win. And sometimes in the postseason, that spirit is enough to carry a team.

Baseball, however, isn't just watching Chicago with admiration for the Cinderella story at hand. There's also a somewhat unprecedented strategy being deployed by the White Sox this October, one that could change the way teams shape their pitching staffs moving forward if this level of success continues.

Organized chaos.

That's what the White Sox call their pitching strategy for the postseason.

Right-hander Sean Burke is the only truly reliable traditional starting pitcher the White Sox have on their playoff roster. So Chicago has largely thrown standard pitching roles out the window. Manager Will Venable plays the matchups on a nearly pitch-by-pitch basis, deploying an all-hands-on-deck approach to cover the 27 outs necessary for victory.

Unconventional? Absolutely. But it's also been remarkably effective.

Even Burke hasn't been used as a traditional starting pitcher. And why would he be?

Burke entered Monday's ALDS Game 2 against the Cleveland Guardians in the third inning after Chicago used two openers to begin the game. The White Sox wanted to roll out a pair of left-handers, Anthony Kay and Sean Newcomb, to navigate the top of Cleveland's lineup and neutralize its dangerous left-handed bats before turning things over to Burke.

The strategy also shortened the game for Burke, allowing him to attack hitters without worrying about pacing himself for a traditional six- or seven-inning start.

He was lights out.

Burke pitched into the bottom of the eighth inning and likely could have kept going. At one point, he set a franchise postseason record with 13 consecutive batters retired. Then with the White Sox nursing a 4-2 lead, Venable ultimately decided there was no reason to push it.

He turned the game over to his best relief arm, Grant Taylor, who recorded another save and finished off Chicago's fourth consecutive postseason victory.

The White Sox have now allowed just nine total runs over four postseason games while pitching to a 1.75 team ERA.

All anybody wants to know is how they've managed to make it work. After all, it's not like the White Sox had an incredible pitching staff throughout the regular season. Their 4.12 team ERA was right around the MLB average.

Not to mention, this is an incredibly young White Sox team with plenty of young arms. Many of them are getting their first taste of playoff baseball during this current run. And inexperienced pitchers are usually expected to show some signs of fatigue this late in the season as they blow past previous career highs in innings pitched.

Instead, the opposite has happened. The deeper the White Sox have gotten into the season, the more dominant their pitching staff has become.

So why is it working for Chicago?

Because the White Sox put it into practice during the regular season.

Consistency has been a primary focus for Venable as he takes this young team into the postseason. He wants players in the same positions, doing things they're familiar with. His message in pregame speeches hasn't changed. And when it comes to the pitching staff, they're comfortable being used as Swiss Army knives because that's how they've been deployed all year.

The White Sox have been short on starting pitching all season long. Even at the trade deadline, they probably could have added another arm or two to solidify the rotation.

Instead, Chicago learned how to survive without one.

Using an opener in front of a starting pitcher, throwing a bullpen game, asking relievers to cover multiple innings. These are all things the White Sox did during the regular season to get themselves into the playoffs.

Nothing about what Venable is asking his pitchers to do in October is foreign to them. The stakes are higher and the margin for error is smaller, but the roles themselves haven't suddenly changed.

"Organized chaos" from the pitching staff was a necessity for the White Sox to survive 162 games. Now it's becoming a weapon in the postseason.

“It's the things that we've done all year. He's used to it. He's done it before. We've seen him pitch exceptionally well when we do use guys in front of him,” Venable said postgame about Burke.

The young right-hander admitted Chicago's original plan for the game went a bit haywire after Cleveland scored two runs in the first inning, forcing Venable to make an earlier-than-expected move to the bullpen for Newcomb.

But Burke was prepared for the unconventional situation, in part because he leaned on teammates who had already experienced similar roles.

He specifically mentioned Erick Fedde, Sean Newcomb and White Sox bullpen coach Matt Wise as people he leaned on while establishing a routine and rhythm for entering a game after it had already started.

It's another example of why Chicago's organized chaos works. The White Sox aren't improvising in October. They're leaning on the versatility, preparation and experience they spent an entire season developing. Keeping things consistent is an underrated aspect of playoff baseball.

For many teams, the bright lights of October make them tighten up. There's a misconception that you need to play differently and treat these games differently simply because they mean more.

And yes, fundamentally sound baseball becomes increasingly important when the margin for error shrinks. But the White Sox are showing how familiarity, comfort and playing loose can actually be the key to postseason success.

That includes the unconventional approach to team pitching.

It doesn't matter if you're a starter or reliever. It doesn't matter if you're being asked to pitch five innings or throw five pitches. The goal is the same: Get 27 outs.

Guys like Burke are flexible enough to make it work. Venable has continued pushing all the right buttons. And the White Sox have built a pitching staff that's comfortable operating without the traditional roles that have defined the sport for generations.

It started as a necessity during the regular season. It's become one of Chicago's greatest strengths in October.

And if this White Sox playoff run continues, don't be surprised if more teams around Major League Baseball start trying to replicate it.