Cubs, White Sox season ends in opposite fashion on Wednesday

CHICAGO — Another baseball season has come to an end in Chicago, and for the first time since 2019 there will be no postseason roster.

After both teams made the playoffs in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and the White Sox won the AL Central in 2021, neither team qualified for the 2022 postseason. As such, Wednesday’s regular season finale would be the last time they would go in that field this year.

In Game 162, the fortunes of the two sides of the city were very different.

The White Sox ended a hugely disappointing season on what was an iconic afternoon for their season.

With their offense remaining calm, their pitching imploded early in a 10-1 loss to the Twins that prevented the club from winning a third straight season, ending 81-81. The clear favorite to win the AL Central this season, the White Sox finished in second place, 11 games behind the Guardians, who finished with 92 wins.

What should instead be another year in the team’s championship window has left the franchise in a bit of limbo. The underperforming team are looking for a new manager after Tony La Russa announced his retirement before the end of his contract year due to ill health.

Not only is this a question for the front office now that the off-season is starting, but also for the future of their core they started building at the start of the first rebuild. Could there be big moves ahead for some big-name players? Stay tuned.

In many ways, the Cubs are in the same place after missing the playoffs for a second straight year as they too consider their next steps in building their roster to compete for championships once again.

But with manager David Ross in charge and a better-than-expected second half, sentiment at the North Siders is slightly better at the end of the season.

They ended their 2022 season with a 15-2 win over the Reds, finishing the season 74-88. That may have looked like a stretch when the team went 22 games under .500 at the All-Star Break, but improved play and a softening of the schedule helped the club play better over the past two and a half months.

Ross’ team ended the second half with a 39-31 record, including eight wins in the last ten games of the season.