Manager Gene Lamont said I am wrong and so did reliever Kirk McCaskill. I can understand where they’re coming from: They don’t want to put the knock on Roberto Hernandez and neither do I. Simply put, Hernandez is among the American League’s best closers.
Still, it seems Lamont has made a subtle change in handling his bullpen. Hernandez is no longer being summoned in most of the save situations. I don’t always rely on numbers but there is this stat: Going into Friday night’s action, the White Sox had won 11 of their last 13 games, yet in this stretch, Hernandez has had only two saves.
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I can’t read Lamont’s mind but more than likely he has not forgotten Hernandez’s recent failures in four consecutive late-inning appearances. Also, Lamont, as he should, may be protecting himself in the unlikely event Hernandez breaks down.
Whatever, Lamont and the Sox are fortunate because, at this point, they have outstanding bullpen depth and overall may have the AL’s best squad of middle men and so-called setup specialists, baseball’s most anonymous positions. The unsung Four Horsemen, in alphabetical order, are Paul Assenmacher, Dennis Cook, Jose DeLeon and Kirk McCaskill.
DeLeon, a heady veteran, is averaging one strikeout an inning and, better yet, has given up 6.5 hits for every nine innings pitched, the lowest such ratio on the club. Assenmacher hasn’t given up a run in his last 10 appearances, Cook in his last eight.
McCaskill has been dazzling: 12 successive scoreless innings, which included a companion streak of what, in effect, was a near no-hitter: 23 consecutive batters retired, the longest hitless streak by a White Sox pitcher in the last four seasons. McCaskill has since retired 11 more batters in a row.
McCaskill, now in his 10th big-league season, was a rotation starter with the California Angels before the Sox signed him as a free agent prior to the 1992 season. Last year, when Lamont sent him to the bullpen, McCaskill expressed considerable unhappiness.
“I didn’t think I’d be able to adjust, working two days in a row and three out of four,” McCaskill explained. “Now I enjoy the fact that I can do it. It seems to me the more I throw, the stronger my arm feels.”
McCaskill concedes the closer is probably baseball’s No. 1 glamor role and the other relievers are lost in the wash.
“The middle relievers often are overlooked,” McCaskill observed. “The save, in my opinion, is somewhat of an overblown statistic. In a lot of instances, a reliever will come in the seventh or eighth inning, in the most crucial situation of the game. And when he gets them out, a ninth-inning pitcher comes in and closes and he gets the save.”
As yet, there is no appropriate index that rates the effectiveness of middlemen. But, as McCaskill explained, what’s most important is “as long as your teammates know you’ve made a contribution.”
McCaskill also observed that it’s rare for bullpen pitchers to go through a full season without any changes in their roles.
McCaskill conceded that Lamont has been “spreading the work around” but insists this is essentially the result of several isolated instances.
Even so, Hernandez is not likely to match his 1993 ratio when he had 79 percent (38 of 48) of the club’s saves. Going into Friday night’s game he had 11 of 17, 64 percent.
Neither McCaskill nor Hernandez was called in Friday’s 9-8 loss to the Indians. It was a power struggle of heroic proportions. The Indians smashed six home runs, three by third baseman Jim Thome who connected in his first three appearances, the first off starter Jason Bere, the next two at the expense of Scott Sanderson.
Lamont put the call in for Sanderson with two outs in the first inning. Sanderson, who has been the fifth starter and hasn’t worked much relief, was jolted for six runs and charged with the loss. He was followed by Cook, DeLeon and Assenmacher, who combined for four scoreless innings.