After battling injuries all season, the White Sox may finally be catching a break as Cleveland loses its best player to a significant injury.
The AL Central race got a lot more interesting as Cleveland Guardians star third baseman Jose Ramirez was placed on the injured list with a hamate bone fracture in his left hand. It's an injury that could sideline him for close to two months, and it's a huge break for the Chicago White Sox.
The White Sox have had some truly unfortunate injury luck throughout the 2026 season. They've somehow overcome it to hold a 37-32 record entering play on Sunday, making them a contender not just to make the playoffs, but to win the AL Central for the first time since 2021.
Catcher Kyle Teel has not played for the White Sox this season. Munetaka Murakami hit 20 home runs in his first 200 MLB at-bats and is now on the injured list for 4-6 weeks with a hamstring strain. Outfielders Austin Hays and Everson Pereira have not been able to stay on the field, and the White Sox have had their starting pitching depth tested with key reinforcements like Noah Schultz and Tanner McDougal both going down with injuries.
The White Sox have already had to overcome a lot. Yes, every team deals with injuries over the course of a 162-game season, but when you compare Chicago's situation to a team like Cleveland, the imbalance stands out.
Before going on the IL with the hamate bone fracture, Ramirez had played in all 72 games for the Guardians this year. Eight of the nine players in Cleveland's Opening Day lineup had not spent a single day on the IL in 2026.
The pendulum was bound to swing in the other direction at some point. But losing Ramirez could be a massive setback for Cleveland.
The Guardians are 26th in baseball in team OPS this season at .689. They are also 26th in baseball in runs per game at 4.01. It's a bottom-five offense, and that's with Jose Ramirez posting 18 doubles, 10 home runs, and 24 stolen bases. Even if his .757 OPS was well below his career average, it was pretty safe to assume Ramirez was going to heat back up and get in line with his career norms. That would have been a huge boost to Cleveland's lineup as it looked to balance out its pitching staff and pull away in the AL Central. It won't be so easy to do that now.
Injuries are nothing to celebrate, but Cleveland spending a significant amount of time without Jose Ramirez inarguably helps the White Sox. Even as Chicago has played good baseball in 2026, I've been a bit skeptical about whether or not the White Sox would be able to stay in the division race for the long haul. I've just been waiting for Cleveland to get hot. I still think the Guardians are a team that could win 90 games and make the division less attainable than it may seem right now. But with Jose Ramirez out of the picture, there's no reason the White Sox can't be in this race deep into the season.
The White Sox currently sit just 0.5 games back of Cleveland in the AL Central standings, and they'll have their first series of the year against the Guardians later this month. That will be Chicago's first opportunity to either make up some ground on Cleveland or separate itself from the pack, depending on how it plays between now and then.
Either way, the Guardians are a much more comfortable matchup for the White Sox with Jose Ramirez out of the lineup. And in a 2026 season that has had so much go right for Chicago, it appears the White Sox are now getting another break, with Cleveland losing its best player just as Chicago is set to get some reinforcements back from injury.
