Sox Populi - A Chicago White Sox podcast

With time running short in the affiliate seasons, each team finds itself with a winning record in the second half ... and that means possible postseasons for Charlotte, Birmingham and Winston-Salem! The full crew (Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, Kristina Airdo, Joe Kiang-Resis, Hannah Filippo and Brett Ballantini) gather to discuss the the three clubs in contention as well as question the wisdom of bringing Tommy Pham onto the MLB roster. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brandon Warne joined the podcast to chat about an important White Sox series against a division rival – the Twins. With little to no confidence about the rest of the season Brandon discussed the surprising trade deadline, what’s new in Minnesota, in-game proposals and preseason football, and helped preview the series. Before ending, Chrystal and Brandon shared their fears about the possible lockout, and are reminded of who is truly affected by it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, revel in White Sox success in the latest edition of Sharing Sox, then take a look at the season to come. First up, pitching — which pitchers are on the upswing, and which are headed toward being worn out and need to be cared for tenderly the rest of the season? Are enough on the upswing to cover for the others, especially Sean Burke, who already has passed his innings total from 2025? Will Davis Martin's IL stint for a blister provide enough rest that he again becomes a useful starter? Then, more generally, is the Sox schedule so for the rest of the season so soft they can hold off the Guardians and their equally soft schedule? FanGraphs and Pecota think so — but just barely. And it's on to the defense, which rates near the bottom in MLB in Defensive Runs Saved (but not as bad as recent years), with catcher (no surprise) and left field (some surprise, since Andrew Benintendi has only played 55 innings there) dragging the rest of the slightly below-average team down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two baseballsky pioneers joined forces to chat about the Mets and White Sox. April Glick Pulito joined the podcast for the first time to share how the Mets have been doing, especially after the trade deadline and their recent 11-4 run. The pair compared the 2024 White Sox and the 2026 Mets after firing their skippers, and how vibes were better once admitting that the season was over early on. April shared insight on the pitching, and how this series could be interesting with the Mets as spoilers. April also talked about her fears and the keys to win for the Mets before getting into how this has been a weird season, especially with a looming season stoppage in 2027. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's that time of year again (again), but so much has changed: Rather than being a team just hoping to spoil the other's season, as was the case back in May, the White Sox have ascended into first place and in fact sit in significantly better postseason position than the crosstown Cubs. Malachi Hayes, Brian O'Neill, Leonard Gore, Chrystal O'Keefe and Brett Ballantini assemble to preview this week's series, but quickly descend into crapping on the Cubs insipid franchise, hackneyed mystique and clownish fans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie Dzwierzynski joined Chrystal O'Keefe to chat about the upcoming Crosstown Classic series at Wrigley Field against the Cubs. Katie provided updates on the trade deadline and her optimism with the rest of the 2026 season for the Cubs. Despite Milwaukee's division lead, Katie still thinks the Cubs can make a push, and the two pondered how the city will handle both teams in the playoffs. Chrystal and Katie previewed the series, going over pitching matchups, this time with four new pitchers getting a crash course in Crosstown shenanigans. Before wrapping up, Katie shared her hopes and fears, and gave a few hot takes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the weekend sweep of the latest pretender to the AL Central crown, the Detroit Tigers, it felt like the right time to try to figure out what in the world is going on with our Chicago White Sox. And attempting to solve that delicious riddle are Chrystal O'Keefe, Brett Ballantini, Malachi Hayes, Brian O'Neill and Leonard Gore. Team Southpaw faced off against Team Pope Hats to dig into the surprisingly solid core of the White Sox and vibe check our confidence levels in the White Sox finishing the job and winning the division. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ashley, the co-host of American League with Ashley and Motor City Metrics, who also contributes to Tigers ML Report and became a certified MLB Scout last year, joined the show to talk about all things Detroit Tigers. With the American League Central up for grabs no lead is safe, and that is exactly what Chrystal and Ashley started with. The two talked about the trade deadline after Detroit dealt Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize, and how it was still successful for the Tigers. The pair also previewed the White Sox series, with Ashley sharing the keys to winning and what she’s afraid of. Before ending the show, Chrystal and Ashley talked about the potential lockout, Ashley’s predictions, and how inclusivity matters in all sports, especially baseball. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wick Terrell of our sister site Red Reporter is back this season to talk all things Red. After a lackluster trade deadline and a lot of injuries, Wick’s high hopes of the Reds having a good season have dissipated. Wick and Chrystal talked about what’s new with the Reds and previewed the series — with keys to win, fears, and that speedy Elly De La Cruz. They also were reminded of Eloy Jiménez undergoing emergency surgery in Cincy, theorized on if Marge Schott and Pete Rose cursed the Reds, and how wonderful Joey Votto is. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mikayla Baer joined Chrystal O'Keefe to talk about all things Guardians, including what’s new in Cleveland (spoiler alert: it’s most of their players), how she feels about the trade deadline, and the rest of the season. She also talked about her card collection and her joyous first trip to Rate Field. The pair discussed pitching matchups, keys to winning the series and just getting runs in with runners in scoring position. Before closing, Mikayla and Chrystal chatted about their fears with a lockout looming and how we really need a salary floor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ed Hand is back to chat about the Red Sox. In this episode Ed talked about his trade deadline hopes for Boston, and how they’ve been red-hot since right before the All Star break. He and Chrystal previewed pitching matchups that changed mid-episode, talked about keys to winning and fears, and shared a lot of David Sandlin love. Before wrapping up, the pair talked about the possible work stoppage and why the Dodgers sometimes ruin everything. Oh, and more emo music. Sorry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joe Kiang-Resis, Malachi Hayes and the reformed, refurbished and revitalized Leonard Gore gathered together with Brett Ballantini to talk over the four moves made at the trade deadline by the White Sox, from good to ... puzzling. By the end, we speed-rounded grades for Chris Getz's first "buying" deadline, as well as whether or not Cleveland and its acquisition of Foster Griffin had a better deadline session than the White Sox. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Minors writers Melissa Sage-Bollenbach and Joe Kiang-Resis hop on with Brett Ballantini to take a pause from our monthly reviews and discuss the events of the day. Talk of SSS Player of the Month for July Boston Smith, now departed to Seattle, triggered a discussion on whether it was the right time for the White Sox to be using prospect capital to ensure the postseason in 2026 (answer: yes). We spun that into some yes/nos on trades that were rumored but did not happen: Smith and George Wolkow to New York for Freddy Peralta, and Braden Montgomery to Baltimore for Adley Rutschman. Finally, we peered into the crystal ball and predicted the two September call-ups to the White Sox. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jason Collette, of FanGraphs and Rotowire, is back to talk about the Tampa Bay Rays. Jason addressed Tampa's trade deadline needs, and how to get by the pesky Yankees and Red Sox, who still find ways to win. Jason and Chrystal talked about pitching matchups for the coming series, and the pros and cons of opening pitchers in previewing the series. They also lauded the ABS system, issues with catchers, cool bobbleheads, and how sometimes sports hurt your feelings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Asher from Pitcher List made his season debut to talk about all things Yankees. He discussed what’s new, including an Aaron Judge health update, what the Yankees need to do at the deadline, and how confident he feels about playoff chances. The duo previewed the series and talked about their mutual love of weird pitchers and Jason Benetti. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andy Brown is back this season to talk about the Houston Astros. For the first time in more than a decade, the Astros will likely be sellers at the trade deadline, in an everything-must-go situation. But even still, there is some hope for the franchise. Chrystal and Andy previewed the series and talked about the great vibes at Rate Field this season. Andy also shared his hot takes, including how baseball still needs to figure out how to grow the game. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Levi Weaver, co-writer of The Windup with Ken Rosenthal on The Athletic, joined Chrystal to talk about all things Rangers. Before digging into what’s going on in Texas, Chrystal asked about Levi’s Halloween costume from last year: George Pee-Wee Herman Ruth, which he put together for his Sandlot baseball league. The pair discussed what is needed at the Trade Deadline and how unserious the American League is this year before previewing the upcoming series. Before closing, Levi shared a few baseball takes before diving into an emo debate and praise of seeing Nick Cave live. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do women still have to prove they're "real sports fans?" On this episode of Ladies' Night, hosts Melissa Sage-Bollenbach and Kristina Airdo are joined by Dakota Rouse from the Chicago Women's Sports Club to talk about gatekeeping, finding your community, and why sports are better when everyone feels like they belong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, Dante Jones and Malachi Hayes hopped on with Brett Ballantini to discuss the fabulous first half for the White Sox, but more so to focus on the second half and stretch run that could give the club its first postseason berth in five seasons. We discuss how the second half plays out, who ends up winning the division, what the trade deadline will look like, who finishes the season as the White Sox MVP — and much more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former voice of the Toronto Blue Jays, current Toronto Star baseball columnist and host of the Deep Left Field podcast, Mike Wilner joined Chrystal to chat about the Blue Jays. Mike discussed what’s new with the Blue Jays, and why he’s not feeling negative about the team. The two also previewed the upcoming White Sox series and talked about what Mike is enjoying this season, as well as the statue being unveiled soon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices