September 25, 2024

White Sox Watch

The White Sox beat the Angels 3-2 on Tuesday, overcoming a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning for the win. Chicago remains tied with the 1962 Mets for the most losses in one season in the modern era. Chicago can set the loss record without setting the percentage record. The Mets only played 160 games in 1962 and finished with a .250 winning percentage.

Chicago needs to win four more games to finish with a higher winning percentage than the 1962 Mets (.250). Here are the three generous estimates of their intrinsic winning percentage and probability of no more than 40 wins:

MethodIntrinsic WPctProbability of No More than 40
Wins
95% Confidence Interval based on actual wins0.3040.969
Replacement Level0.2960.972
95% Confidence Interval based on Pythagorean wins (+7)0.3510.949
2024 White Sox finishing no better than 40-122

Chicago only needs two more wins to finish with a better winning percentage than the 1916 Athletics. That team went 36-117, a .2353 winning percentage. If the White wind up 38-124, they would own a .2346 winning percentage, and set the modern record for lowest winning percentage in a season. Here are the probabilities for that happening:

MethodIntrinsic WPctProbability of No More than 38
Wins
95% Confidence Interval based on actual wins0.3040.522
Replacement Level0.2960.538
95% Confidence Interval based on Pythagorean wins (+7)0.3510.430
2024 White Sox finishing no better than 38-124

The White Sox still look like a lock to finish behind the 1962 Mets in winning percentage, but they now have about a 50/50 chance of avoiding a worse finish than the 1916 Athletics.

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