Because the Chicago White Sox are in the middle of an epic rebuild, it is not fair to assess the job manager Will Venable is doing based solely on his record.
You could argue that Will deserved votes for 2025 American League Manager of the Year after guiding the Pale Hose to a 19-win improvement. However, all he did was manage the White Sox to 60 wins in 2025 after losing a historic number of games in 2024. That shows how far this franchise has to go before getting back to something resembling a competitive ball club.
That is why I propose using these benchmarks as way to evaluate the job Venable does in 2026.
The team continues to be in tight games — and wins more of them
The South Siders may have lost 102 games in 2025, but Chicago lost only 26 of those contests by five or more runs. The White Sox were in a lot of games last season, as evidenced by the 115 games decided by four runs or less. In fact, they played in 51 games decided by a single run. However, the club went 15-36 in those tight contests.
Wins and losses still will not matter this season, but it would be a sign of progress for the rebuild if the club prevailed more often in close games.
The lineup will have to improve at hitting with runners in scoring position, the defense must be tighter and the bullpen must improve at getting high-leverage outs to turn those opportunities into more victories.
Proper bullpen deployment
Venable subscribes to the new-school thinking of using his best relievers for the biggest outs when they are needed and not saving those arms for high-leverage outs that may never come. That could mean the biggest outs are needed in the sixth inning, rather than the ninth.
However, he did get exposed using that strategy if the game stayed close as it went along. That left Venable with using a reliever like Brandon Eisert in the ninth, whose stuff does not translate well to high-leverage situations.
Seranthony Domínguez, Jordan Hicks and Sean Newcomb were added in the offseason to give Venable more arms to execute his bullpen strategy. Grant Taylor and Jordan Leasure finished 2025 strong. Mike Vasil was impressive in filling any and all bullpen roles last season. In theory, Venable will have six arms to use to get key outs when needed. It is a theory for now, as Vasil, Newcomb, Taylor or Hicks could start the season in the rotation.
Still, Venable has to show he is capable of selecting the correct pitcher to get those outs. The only arm with a defined role is Dominguez, who will be the closer. But the manager will have to show he knows when to use the rest of those bullpen arms to get clutch outs in the sixth through eighth.
Players continuing to improve
Internal improvement is the theme of the 2026 season. The hope is the young core that emerged out of the 2025 season continues to progress.
Colson Montgomery must prove he is not a flash-in-the-pan hitter after hitting 21 home runs in 71 games. Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero have to continue to ascend into star catchers. Chase Meidroth, Miguel Vargas and Lenyn Sosa must show they can continue to be solid hitters in the lineup.
Shane Smith went from being the No. 1 pick in the Rule 5 Draft to an All-Star in 2025. Now, he must elevate from mound stud to an ace.
Variance dictates that some players will not take that leap forward. However, no player having a significant regression is a key to 2026’s success.
Proper use of the designated hitter
Venable was resistant to having Teel and Quero in the lineup together until Korey Lee was recalled. It will be interesting to see if Venable shows that same resistance if Lee does not make the Opening Day roster.
Teel and Quero must be in the lineup together at least four days a week. If Venable does not have that third catcher to turn to in an instance where he has to pinch-hit for Quero or Teel at catcher that day, I am not sure that will happen. He was justified in his fear at least once in 2025, when he had to give up the DH spot in a close game in Texas after pinch-hitting for Quero (catching that day) and needed to have DH Teel come in to catch.
Venable also needs to use the DH spot to get Sosa some at-bats during the week. Because the club does not believe in sunk costs, he will also have to use Andrew Benintendi there. Ideally, the front office designates Benintendi for assignment, as he is weak defensively in left field and will take away at-bats from younger hitters.
However, that will never happen. So Venable is going to have to find a way to rotate Teel, Quero, Sosa, Benintendi and even Munetaka Murakami at DH while making sure everyone gets enough at-bats.
Identifying problems and implementing solutions faster
This one is dependent on the team being healthy. Last year, it took Venable almost half the season to start demanding the lineup hit fastballs better. To be fair, he could not truly identify that as a problem until most of his outfield returned from the injured list and the youngsters got called up.
Once it became clear that his regular lineup struggled to hit heat, Venable and his coaching staff got to work on fixing that problem.
If the team stays healthy and runs into similar issues, the hope is that Venable can identify the problem quickly and he and his staff can implement solutions effectively.
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