Sitting at 80 wins with six games left to play already puts the White Sox ahead of most people’s preseason expectations. But thanks to moving into first place in the American League Central earlier this summer and remaining there until just a few days ago, the bar has been raised.

Now, the expectation is at least a postseason appearance. That’s very likely; Fangraphs’ odds for the Sox playing in October were at almost 96% before Sunday’s 8-1 win over the Tigers. But even more than that, fans want a division title. The Sox are only a game behind Cleveland entering the season’s final week, so it’s still in play.

The trouble is, the best opportunity the Sox had was earlier this week when they were in Cleveland. Instead of securing the division, the Sox lost two out of three and put themselves in position to fight their way back to the top without any more head-to-head matchups with the Guardians.

But what’s done is done, and all the Sox can do now is focus on what they can control, and that’s three games in Kansas City and then three at home against the Rockies to finish the season.

Still, that doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t have an eye on what’s happening with the teams they are competing with for playoff spots.

“It’s hard not to pay attention. Obviously what they do impacts us,” manager Will Venable said. “I think though we’ve done a good job of staying focused on what we can control. And that takes a lot of energy. You’re mindful of what the other teams are doing, but not setting time aside to watch games or anything like that. But obviously scoreboard watching is part of it at this point.”

Venable has been good about keeping his guys focused on what they are doing; they have kept a consistent mindset of putting their heads down and taking things a game at a time, but he has also not shied away from acknowledging that he is aware of what’s happening around the league.

There is a mixture of approaches to this in the Sox clubhouse; guys like Sunday’s starter Davis Martin has said all season that he’s just concerning himself with what his team is doing. After helping his team to a win over Detroit on Saturday, Sean Burke said he would be watching UFC that night instead of the Guardians game.

Sunday’s finale of the four-game set against the Tigers tested Sox fans’ patience — they waited nearly four hours from the scheduled first pitch time for it to start — but it was an encouraging sign for the team going into the playoffs, whether they are going in as a division winner or a wild card team.

With the exception of Friday’s bullpen collapse, the Sox held Detroit to just one run in three games. That takes effective starting pitching and strong relief work. The offense came through when need as well. Even in the frustrating Friday loss, the Sox scored eight runs.

Key in that offensive group is Munetaka Murakami, who has been slumping at the plate for weeks but is showing signs of life of late. He homered and tripled in Thursday’s win, drove in a run on Saturday, and drew a pair of walks on Sunday.

“He’s made some mechanical adjustments with his setup that has put him in a better spot to make more contact,” Venable said. “He’s probably, after making more contact and hitting the ball hard, feeling more confident and feeling good about himself. It’s come together right on time.

“This guy’s a big that we’re in the spot that we’re in and he’s going to be a big reason that we continue to do well here down the stretch.”

At this point, down the stretch is just six more games. The White Sox have a bit of an advantage over the Guardians in this final week because their schedule is a little friendlier. They not only had the familiarity of playing against division opponents during the last two weeks of the season, but the Guardians have a tough series in Boston while the Sox head to Kansas City.

That is a small thing, but it might be enough of a difference between winning the division and being the third wild card. Or worse; Burke was open on Saturday about the fact that a slide in the next six games could also mean the Sox are not in the playoffs at all.

Still, the guys in the Sox locker room know the difference it can make if they stay loose and capitalize on playing familiar opponents. They did that to some degree already by taking three out of four from the Tigers, and they can continue by winning a series against the Royals.

“Our approach is right now, it’s about the vibe. And we understand that there’s a lot of stress and pressure in this environment and we want to take that away,” Venable said. “And so not having to mull over the details of the opponent and game planning and those types of things and putting energy into that is something that I think frees us up a little bit.

“Certainly we have our game plans, but you’re able to get through these meetings much more briefly and you’re just spending time on the vibe and kind of the clubhouse atmosphere.”

The Sox have loads of talent; that’s one of the primary reasons they are where they are with six games left to play. But one of the key ingredients to their success this season has been the clubhouse culture. Martin and others have said it’s a culture that started to build in the second half of the 2025 season, but they cemented it this year.

Just taking things a day at a time has kept them from ever letting losses mount, and in the very last stretch of the season, it might be how they claw their way back to the top of their division and earn a first-round bye.