CHICAGO -- The White Sox reached the halfway point of their 2024 season with a 4-3 loss to the Dodgers Tuesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field.

With a 21-60 record, that first half honestly might have felt a bit longer.

In working through some basic math, the White Sox are on pace to finish with a 42-120 mark, which would tie the 1962 Mets for the most single-season losses in the modern era (since 1900). The 1899 Cleveland Spiders lost 134 times.

“It’s been tough. It might look a lot uglier than it actually is,” said White Sox left fielder Andrew Benintendi, who homered in Tuesday’s setback. “We’ve played a lot of one-run ballgames. We’ve put together one, two good weeks. But we’ve got 81 games left. Just keep trucking, keep working on things, keep getting better.”

“Obviously, tough record,” added Chris Flexen, who fell to 2-7 after allowing four runs over 5 2/3 innings. “Battled some injuries, battled some inconsistencies. Overall we're going to continue to fight. Put your best foot forward and keep pushing on and focus on winning games, continue to pull for each other and battle."

Aside from that collective fight, let’s take a brief look at some of the first half items of note and some stories still figuring to be told.

Hey now, he's an All-Star
This Smash Mouth lyric should apply to left-handed starter Garrett Crochet, who has been one of Major League Baseball’s most interesting stories, let alone for the White Sox. But it also holds true for Erick Fedde, who starts the series finale Wednesday against Los Angeles, The veteran right-hander reinvented himself and regained his mound confidence during a dominant 2023 season in Korea, and returned to post a 5-2 record with a 3.05 ERA for the White Sox.

Crochet’s transformation from the bullpen has featured an ace-like bravado since general manager Chris Getz agreed to make the move this past offseason. Nothing guaranteed, nothing given. Relying primarily on a mix of his four-seam fastball and cutter, Crochet has fanned an AL-leading 130 against 20 walks in a career-high 94 1/3 innings.

Catching on
There’s no reason to relive Korey Lee’s 5-for-65 stint after joining the 2023 White Sox aside from pointing out the progress he has made. Lee has proven to be a bona fide starting catcher with the bat, with his game-calling ability and his ability to subdue opposing running games. He certainly didn’t allow a small sample size to define his career.

Historically bad
Just take a look at the numbers beyond the overall record.

Tuesday’s setback dropped the White Sox to 0-11-1 in their past 12 series and 4-20-2 overall in series competition. They are 6-15 in one-run games and, after grabbing a 3-1 advantage in the first on Tuesday, now now have 28 losses after leading.

With a 7-30 ledger over their past 37 games, the White Sox sit 32 games out of first in the American League Central and 17 games out of fourth.

Who's still here?
Nothing has changed, for now, aside from injury departures and returns and roster turnover giving playing time to top prospects such as pitchers Drew Thorpe and Jonathan Cannon, third baseman Bryan Ramos and eventually shortstop Colson Montgomery, the team’s top prospect, per MLB Pipeline. But Getz is open for business across the board.

Crochet and his two years of contractual control after 2024 and center fielder Luis Robert Jr., who has one year at $15 million and a pair of $20 million options, will be the most interesting trade targets as the July 30 Deadline nears. The asks will be understandably robust, but will the demands be met?

Sticking together
People might scoff at the idea at a close clubhouse in the midst of a team spiraling toward record losses. It’s clearly present for the White Sox.

“I’ve been on teams or have seen teams that were supposed to be really good and the clubhouse, you hear things,” Benintendi said. “It all starts in the clubhouse.

“Everybody in here gets along. We’ve said that plenty of times and it holds true still. Just being there for your teammates and go play hard for one another.”

It’s the sort of culture Getz and the organization set out to build at the very least in 2024.

“We are not having a very good year, OK? And these guys just keep battling,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “They keep coming to the ballpark ready to work, ready to play, ready to win a baseball game. So the character of the clubhouse, the culture in there, the way they go about it together, it’s extremely impressive.”