Column: As bullpen usage nears record rate, Chicago White Sox manager Will Venable vows to stay the course
· Yahoo Sports
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.
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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.
Manager Will 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 this month heading into Friday’s game against the Detroit Tigers, while starters Anthony Kay and Fedde were pulled after 4 and 4 2/3 innings, respectively, Wednesday and Thursday despite both pitching effectively.
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.
Wizard’s backMike 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.
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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.”
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 timeMany 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 nine games left entering Friday and being tied with the Cleveland Guardians atop the American League Central and only two games ahead of the Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays in the wild-card race, that’s easier said than done.
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.
“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.”