Chicago White Sox: Bullpen issues concerning but not surprising
Coming into the season, the Chicago White Sox were expected by many to be a team that would struggle due to their young, inexperienced roster. So far, it’s only the bullpen that has shown struggles.
Through six games the Chicago White Sox bullpen has allowed 19 earned runs in 20 innings. That’s not going to get it done in any league.
Their most recent bout of futility came in the home opener on Thursday at a frigid Guaranteed Rate Field against the Detroit Tigers.
Holding a 7-3 lead heading into the eighth inning, things looked promising for the White Sox faithful that braved the cold conditions on the South Side. But that’s where the fun ended.
After Nate Jones gave up three hits and a run in the eighth, the game was turned over to Joakim Soria to protect a three-run lead. Four hits and three runs later, the game was tied.
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After the White Sox failed to score in bottom of the ninth, Gregory Infante entered the game and proceeded to give up two runs in one third of an inning. And that was the game.
In total, those three gave up eight hits and six runs in just over two innings.
And this all came against a Detroit team that had been shut out twice in their first five games and was missing Miguel Cabrera. Not an encouraging sign.
But also shouldn’t be all that shocking.
No one should be surprised by the #whitesox bullpen but it still hurts when Gregory Infante has a 37.80 ERA. I wrote about this and Carson Fulmer here. https://t.co/f5Helilcvz pic.twitter.com/Tr9K4GO7kK
— Matt Enuco (@Matt_Enuco) April 6, 2018
The most troubling part is that Jones and Soria are really the only reliable options currently in the bullpen. That combination was expected to close out games in some fashion, at least early on this season.
Manager Rick Renteria is still confident in his veteran duo, even after the rough outing against Detroit.
“Jonesy and Joakim, I’m confident they’re going to have better days than this,” Renteria said after the game. “They’ve shown us what they’re capable of doing. Today, this one just got away.”
But outside of Jones and Soria, the Chicago White Sox bullpen is comprised of guys just trying to find a spot. Luis Avilan and Aaron Bummer are lefty specialists who have been okay so far. The other lefty, Hector Santiago, is the long relief/spot starter option and hasn’t been sharp to this point.
Danny Farquhar has experience and has been decent to start the season despite giving up a big home run in Toronto. Juan Minaya and Infante are both guys that pitched well enough when called up last year to get another shot to start this season but may be the first to go if things don’t improve.
In reality, the bullpen may look at lot different a couple of months from now. But for the time being, Renteria is going to have to use a patchwork approach when it comes to finishing out games.
And that will likely result in a few more games getting away like the one on Thursday.
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The good news is that the offense has looked sharp through six games and has gotten contributions up and down the lineup. This is already an exciting team to watch and should be all season.
Fans may just have to turn White Sox games off after the seventh inning.