The Chicago White Sox’s strength for most of this crazy season has been their bullpen depth, with Grant Taylor, Bryan Hudson, Sean Newcomb and now Hagen Smith as their main leverage guys.
And if they’re going to survive this late-September stretch run and get into the postseason, the bullpen is probably going to have to continue to do the heavy lifting.
Whether fans like it or not, it’ll probably be that way in October as well — if the Sox make it.
They suffered an epic 11-8 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Friday at Rate Field, blowing an early six-run lead to fall one game behind the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central. They’ve lost eight of their last 11 games and 13 of 19 and are also only one game ahead of the Texas Rangers for the final wild-card spot.
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“It’s tough, no other way about it,” manager Will Venable bluntly said.
Sox right fielder Tristan Peters suffered a bruised shoulder/rib while banging into the outfield wall on Kevin McGonigle’s three-run triple in the fifth inning. Peters was listed as day to day.
The Sox won’t have much time to dwell on the loss. Saturday’s game, originally scheduled for 6:10 p.m., was moved up to 1:10 p.m. because of a forecast of inclement weather.
After the Sox scored six runs in the first inning and led 8-2 after the third, most fans settled in for a postgame concert by country music star Cole Swindell.
But rookie starter David Sandlin fell apart in the fifth, and the bullpen imploded in a five-run eighth to give the game away. Newcomb and Hudson were the hit hard, with Newcomb serving up a game-tying two-run home run to Hao-Yu Lee and Hudson giving up four hits in one-third of an inning, including a two-run home run to Riley Greene.
Sox fans booed Venable as he came out to remove his relievers, showing their frustration over the team’s recent downturn.
“Just one of those nights, we couldn’t slow them down,” Venable said. “It didn’t matter what spots we put guys in. These guys have been so good all year long for us. You’ve got to give the Tigers some credit too.”
Venable hasn’t diverged from his early-season strategy of using his relievers early and often and employing openers on a semiregular basis.
That led to the Sox leading the majors in relief innings this season and being on a pace to finish with 764 innings, which would rank third in major-league history. And the relievers — including “bulk” pitchers — have thrown a league-high 82.2 innings in 16 September games compared with only 56 innings for the starters.
Four of those September starts have employed openers for Erick Fedde, Luis Castillo, Sean Burke and Davis Martin, making them bulk pitchers that day. No Sox starter has lasted more than 5 2/3 innings since Aug. 21, when Burke went six innings against the New York Mets. Starters Anthony Kay and Fedde were pulled after 4 and 4 2/3 innings, respectively, Wednesday and Thursday despite both pitching effectively. The heavy usage of the pen seems to be taking its toll at the worst time.
This is the time of year the prime starters separate themselves from average ones. The Sox need only look in the opposite dugout for an example. Tigers starter Justin Verlander was 54-24 with a 3.02 ERA in regular-season games in September/October, and his managers usually had to pry the ball from him in late-season starts.
But Venable doesn’t believe in changing his philosophy, even if that day’s starter has proved to be effective.
Has anyone pushed back?
“We have healthy discussions all the time to make sure we’re on the same page with stuff,” Venable said Friday. “And those go differently. There’s a wide range of dynamics involved in player communication that looks differently, but it’s been positive here. We haven’t had any issues, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Healthy discussions? Does anyone lobby for more leeway during starts?
“No, no,” he said. “We talk about roles and talk about when those roles change, try to give them as much clarity as possible. We’ve been open about everything we’re trying to do. We discuss it here and there, but we haven’t had people come in and (start) lobbying for different roles.”
It’s probably a sign of the times. Veterans such as Fedde, Kay and Martin might be fine with it because the bullpen has generally been solid, and Burke is too young to complain. But for old-school baseball guys who enjoy watching starters show their stuff in a pennant race, it’d be nice to see the Sox starters get a longer leash down the stretch.
And it might help rest the overtaxed bullpen as well.
Wizard’s back
Mike Vasil threw for the first time since Tommy John surgery in March, and it was no ordinary game of catch.
All but one of his Sox teammates lined up down the left-field line to applaud Vasil, one of the more popular players in the clubhouse. It was almost as if he was making his return to the roster instead of the first of many steps to a comeback.
Vasil didn’t know what his teammates were planning and was clearly touched by the display of support.
“It made me emotional, just the fact that everyone is behind me and supporting me,” Vasil said. “Look, I wanted to pitch this year. It didn’t happen, but just to see them out there means a lot.”
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Vasil said he hopes to be back in major-league games by May. He said he learned a lot about himself during the time rehabbing and he became a cult hero on the South Side as “the Wizard” for his magic-wand routine. Vasil had no idea the wand would turn into such a big deal.
“Not in a million years,” he said. “March 14, when I blew out (my elbow) until St. Paddy’s Day when I had surgery, never did I think that all of a sudden I’d have a wand giveaway and people would be waving wands and people would be calling me Wizard. It wasn’t on my bingo card.”
Vasil admitted he’d like to get a TV job when he’s done playing, but hopefully that’s a long time off.
Message time
Many of the young Sox players have not been in this position before, and Venable wants them to play loose and relaxed like it’s just another game.
But with only eight games left and after falling out of the AL Central lead, that’s easier said than done. After taking a six-run lead, they were shut out on one hit over the final six innings.
The Sox came into Friday’s game ranked last in the majors in September in average (.207) and slugging percentage (.357) and over the last 10 games hit .179 (15-for-84) with runners in scoring position. Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery have to pick up the slack. Montgomery had a three-run double and two hits Friday, while Murakami was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
“Obviously the situation that we’re in is the one we want to be in, where every game is important,” Venable said. “But our focus is just to make sure that we have the right vibe and that we’re not, you know, putting too much pressure on ourselves.”