Three things Will Venable must do to win AL Manager of the Year

Will Venable’s talents outshine his miscues, but he has no leeway in the final stretch for the AL Manager of the Year Award. | (Photo by Geoff Stellfox/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

The White Sox are one of the few AL teams to beat as the home stretch of baseball approaches, and a lot of the credit goes to Will Venable. The sophomore skipper has led Chicago to first in the division with a 67-61 record, giving him a huge leg up in this year’s AL Manager of the Year Award.

But Venable can’t get too comfortable. Two games ahead of the White Sox are the Red Sox, who were 37-47 at the end of June, staring down the barrel of being the biggest disappointments this season but emerged as one of the strongest AL wild card teams since the All-Star break. And interim manager Chad Tracy is receiving high praise for steering the Bosox back into the playoff hunt. Kevin Cash’s unwavering first-place standing with the Tampa Bay Rays the AL East also makes him a formidable MOY frontrunner.

For Venable to win AL MOY, the White Sox must win the division. Here are three things the franchise and Venable can do to secure the AL Central.

Find a pitching diamond in the rough The quickly-fatiguing pitching staff needs a boost. Since the beginning of August, Venable has been forced to get creative with his permutations of openers, starters and relievers. An arm is an to him, and how you pitch matters more than where in the game you pitch. Venable managed to squeak two wins from games played with only relievers on the bump, but the luck is starting to run out.

Chicago’s pitching needs a hero in September. Luis Castillo has been a stand-up starter since the trade deadline, but the White Sox need more, and there are two possibilities: Davis Martin or Drew Thorpe.

Martin needs to come back from his blistered finger looking like the early Cy Young candidate he was with a 8-1 record from March through May, with a 2.00 ERA, 71 strikeouts, 14 walks, and just three home runs allowed. He was a force to be reckoned with, with command and presence on the mound that made him look a lot older and wiser. Martin’s time off will hopefully be the reset he needs to finish the season strong.

Otherwise, Thorpe needs to be the pitcher’s version of Tristan Peters: An underrated and unexpected workhorse who emerges out of nowhere. Thorpe has been working his way back to Chicago, but timing his return and ensuring he’s ready to dive into the deep end will be challenging. Thorpe only has 22 innings under his belt since 2024, and began his recovery just over a month ago. And he was hardly an experienced hand before TJS, tossing only tossed nine inconsistent games before his injury. Expecting Thorpe to be able to keep pace sprinting while he’s still learning to walk is a tall order, but dropping a series to the Mets would warrant an expedited return. If Thorpe can give the White Sox at least three starts that last into the fifth while giving the team a chance to win, he’ll make a huge impact.

Eliminate silly mistakes Venable can’t afford another embarrassing mistake. Despite some of his brilliant platoon and pinch-hitting decisions, his naïvité and newness to managing aren’t lost. His least forgiving misstep was losing track of the mound visits in an eventual 8-2 loss to the Guardians on August 7, which forced Noah Schultz off the mound prematurely.

Will Venable took me through what happened with the two mound visits in the first inning that resulted in Noah Schultz having to exit the game. #whitesox pic.twitter.com/B2MxPSqIfX

— Brooke Fletcher (@BrookeFletcher) August 8, 2026

A smaller but equally-costly error recently committed was not walking Pete Crow-Armstrong leading off the 10th of the first White Sox-Cubs game at Wrigley, with the score tied and PCA’s run having no meaning.

Despite his willingness to take responsibility for his poor decisions, Venable can’t afford another blunder.

Win more games than Boston Evading a collapse as catastrophic as Detroit’s last year should be the top priority for Chicago. Getting a fair pitcher back and eliminating bad decisions will help, but Venable needs to win games, period.

Chicago has five divisional series ahead of them, and it can’t be understated how important it is to win them. Winning at least eight of those 16 games is pivotal, although the standard should be much higher.

Also, Venable has to take the winnable games on the schedule. Excluding the Tigers and Guardians, the White Sox face four teams with a .500 record or worse. Winning 10 of those 15 games is table stakes. Setting the bar lower would not be MOY-worthy.

Together, those 18 wins should be enough to at least keep pace with Boston. But if Venable wants to win MOY and finish first in the second-easiest division in the league, he must come out on top of the Red Sox when all is said and done. If the Red Sox win more games than Chicago, Chad Tracy is the obvious MOY choice.

Indexed and credited by AIPROPX. Originating outlet: Yahoo Sports. Open at source →