White Sox: 3 relievers to acquire before the trade deadline

The Chicago White Sox have a very interesting bullpen. They signed both Joe Kelly and Kendall Graveman during the offseason for a lot of money.

That came one year after signing Liam Hendriks who is the best closer in baseball. During the 2021 season, they also made big trades for Craig Kimbrel and Ryan Tepera so there is an emphasis on the bullpen.

Kelly might be out for a while and Reynaldo Lopez is on the IL right now. We also know that Garrett Crochet is out for the season and Aaron Bummer is going to be out until September at the earliest.

With all of the injuries to this group, the White Sox are sure to be active in the bullpen market before the deadline. They should look at these three relievers:

Daniel Bard is someone that would be great in the Chicago White Sox bullpen.

The White Sox just left Denver after a series split with the Colorado Rockies. They are very good at home but their bad road record will keep them from being a playoff team once again. They are full-blown sellers at the deadline.

Daniel Bard is a reliever that could be on the move. He gets high velocity on his fastballs and has a very good sinker pitch. He is on the older side (37) but he is having a dominant season on a team that is going nowhere.

He doesn’t give up a lot of home runs and avoids trouble as long as he keeps his command in check. If the White Sox took a chance on him, he would fit in very well with this bullpen as he can come right in the middle to bridge them to the late-inning guys.

The Chicago White Sox could use a ground ball machine like Jorge Lopez.

The Chicago White Sox could use a pitcher like Jorge Lopez. He is a great story as he went through a very rough patch in his career but he has been amazing as the Baltimore Orioles’ closer this year. The White Sox probably wouldn’t have to pay a whole lot to get him either.

Lopez is someone that you can call into the game when you need a ground ball desperately as he is very good at getting hitters to smash the ball into the ground. Once a starter, Lopez has become someone that can be relied on in the bullpen.

We saw that Craig Kimbrel failed at moving from a closer to a setup man in 2021 but Lopez is not Craig Kimbrel. He is a failed starter that is having success as a reliever now so it would be cool to see him come to a team like the White Sox.

Hendriks is not leaving his role as the closer but Lopez could be used in that role on days that Liam isn’t available. They can also test him out to see if he is capable of pitching in different types of situations. You’d like to think he can.

The White Sox are going to make a trade for a reliever. It may or may not be one of these guys but they would all fit in on the team very well. Hopefully, whoever they add is able to come in and pitch very well down the stretch in high-pressure situations.