Chicago White Sox: This is the perfect bullpen setup for 2021
The Chicago White Sox has the pieces in place to have one of the best bullpens in Major League Baseball. You need to be good in that department in order to win the World Series and the White Sox believe they are. They didn’t see Rick Renteria handle the talent to the best of their ability so they let him go.
The Chicago White Sox need their bullpen to be put in the right situation to get the most out of them.
Tony La Russa was been brought in as the new manager and we believe he knows how to handle a bullpen. He does need to put them in the right position/order if they are going to maximize their talent. We know that he is good at taking the feel for the game and combining it with analytics to get the best possible decisions made. If these things actually work out, this team might really have one of the best bullpens in the league. It is certainly going to be a lot of fun to watch.
This team sort of has three layers to its bullpen. There are different situations that will cause the White Sox to use those different layers. There is the impact of the starter, the flow of the game, and the scoreboard amongst other things that will cause them to make decisions. They certainly have the players needed to take advantage of these situations.
The offense and starters are going to carry their weight so it is up to the bullpen to preserve leads. It is a different-looking unit from the year before but not because of the personnel. It is because of the people in charge and the development of players there. In order to get the most out of the group, they can’t be overmanaging the situation. They need to come up with a plan and roll with it. This is the perfect setup for them going into the year:
There are some starters that will begin the season in the Chicago White Sox bullpen.
The Chicago White Sox have two starters that are going to begin the year in the bullpen. Michael Kopech and Garrett Crochet are both incredibly talented flamethrowers. They can each hit 100 on the radar gun whenever they want but need more development. That will come in 2021 via the bullpen which is an incredible advantage for the Chicago White Sox.
Having two prospects like this that are projected starters in a bullpen to start the season is incredibly unique. The White Sox believe these two will be at or near the top of the rotation in a few years. That is something that they can take advantage of here in 2021.
The perfect place to find these guys this season is as long relievers. They are each capable of throwing three innings of relief after the starter goes for five or six. If one of the starters has a short outing, they also might be smart to use one of these two. Following someone like Dylan Cease or Carlos Rodon is a good option as well. These guys can be the bridge from the starting pitcher that day to the closer.
The hope is that the five who begin the year as starters play well enough to keep that job. That would allow the bullpen to have studs like Crochet and Kopech all year long. It is the type of situation that could lead to them having as good of a unit as they will ever have.
The Chicago White Sox has some awesome relief pitchers in the middle of the bullpen.
The Chicago White Sox also has some natural relievers that can run with good middle relief stuff. There are good pitchers that can impact the game as well as the White Sox need. A lot of these guys are going to be put in situations where they have the lead because the team is good. The hope is that they can hold on to those leads and get to the late-inning guys with that same lead.
In 2020, there are some players who were already known and some that took big steps forward. The prominent players that will own the middle relief roles (besides Kopech and Crochet) are Evan Marshall, Matt Foster, and Codi Heuer. We knew how good Marshall was going into 2020 but Foster and Heuer really bloomed into studs.
It is also possible that we see Reynaldo Lopez fall down into this group as well. That would make him a starter turned reliever too but he is in a totally different category from Kopech and Crochet. He is probably never going back to being a starter if he does in fact lose that job before the regular season. Jimmy Cordero would also be there in this group but he is going to be out for a very long time with an injury.
Of course, as the season goes along, there are going to be injuries and performance issues. This is the part of the bullpen that will see the most change as a result of those variables. There are guys who may come in from the minors and see a few innings. Outside of that instance, we pretty much know what they’re going into the year with and it is a solid group.
The setup man and closer roles are the most important for the Chicago White Sox.
The late-inning portion of the game is where the White Sox should shine the most as far as their bullpen. MLB Network called both Liam Hendriks and Aaron Bummer top ten relief pitchers during their offseason rankings. It is a dynamic duo that should help the White Sox win a lot of baseball games. If these two bring the stuff that we know they can in 2021, they shouldn’t lose too many games that they lead after eight innings.
Aaron Bummer dealt with a little bit of an injury bug in 2020. Because of the short 60 game season, it is hard to come back from that and really find your form. The funny thing is that he did do that. He was dominant in every way when he was healthy. He only managed 9.1 innings but had a remarkable 14 strikeouts, a 0.96 ERA, and a 1.071 WHIP. He is the perfect setup man for this team going forward.
What is a team lucky enough to get after Bummer exits? Liam Hendriks has been one of the best relievers in the game over the past two years. You know that when you upgrade from Alex Colome that you did make a good decision because he was also good for the White Sox. Most people see Hendriks as the best closer in baseball right now because he has been for the past two seasons. If he can carry that into 2021 and beyond, it will certainly cap off a good pitching staff.
Related Story. Tim Anderson is out here making funny FaceTime pranks. light
Not everything is going to be perfect for the bullpen every day. There are going to be days where they blow a lead and potentially even lose the game for the Sox. They aren’t going 162-0 so that is okay. What matters is that they come in and shut the door a majority of the time. If that happens, we could be talking about an American League Central champion and possibly more.