The Chicago White Sox went into the season believing they are World Series contenders. Even without Eloy Jimenez for most of the regular season, you should still believe that because this team is so good. One thing that it prides itself on is the bullpen. They haven’t been as good as we thought to start but there are a lot of factors that have gone into that.
One is that they haven’t gotten the defense they need behind them and another has been poor usage. Good bullpens need help and they haven’t gotten much help to this point. Well, Monday night’s game against the Cleveland Indians was a step in the right direction. In fact, it might be just what the doctor ordered for his group.
Dallas Keuchel cruised for most of the game but lost his command randomly. Evan Marshall had to come in and relieve him with the bases loaded and no outs only winning by one run. Well, he made it out by getting all three outs and only allowing one to score on a sacrifice fly. The game remained tied all the way until they won it in the bottom of the ninth. It was as good as the bullpen has looked all season long.
So far this season, only Michael Kopech and Garrett Crochet have been bullpen pieces to brag about. Now, it seems like the others are coming around as well. Evan Marshall and Aaron Bummer did what they needed to do but Codi Heuer was the real star. He was brilliant for the White Sox in an extended relief role which allowed the White Sox to win. He earned credit as the winning pitcher of the ballgame.
The Chicago White Sox needs their bullpen to be this good on most nights in 2021.
The Chicago White Sox are one of the best teams in the American League if they get that type of performance from the bullpen on most nights. They were so good and should be able to keep it up. As long as the starters and the offense does their job, there is no ceiling to this group. This was the type of win that should really help them start to string a few together. Specifically, that is the bullpen we need to see in 2021.