Could the bullpen be a strength

[wrathofhahn]

Right now it's full of high upside arms.

 

Avilian is a guy who dominates LHB batters and can get the occasional right out. Hopefully the staff uses him accordingly (ie pitching to tough lefties and innings where a lefty leads off then taking him out at the first sign of trouble).

 

You got Soria a former closer coming off a down season by his standards (still not terrible) but pitching much better then the results would indicate 2.23 FIP 3.03 xFIP and stuff wise still right there to where he was earlier in his career.

 

Then you have a wild card in Jones sort of house money but when he's been healthy he's been dominant.

 

You have Viera who can reach triple digits on his fastball. You have Bummer who also throws hard and even more importantly work at the bottom of the zone. You have farquhar who is an above average middle reliever with swing and miss stuff. Minya another guy who throws hard who results to this point haven't matched his stuff. Infante.

 

Bullpen is full of high upside arms and the sox don't have to hit on all of them to have a dominant pen next year.

 

 

[ChiSoxJon]

Don't forget Rondon, Gomez, and roster lock IMO Hector Santiago...

 

Not sure if the bullpen can be a strength but if it is, this team won't have any glaring weaknesses plus an ongoing influx of callups (Kopech, Jimenez, Cordell, Viera)

 

I truly think this teams lineup will be pretty good and expect Giolito, Lopez, and Fulmer to pick up right where they left off, while Migo holds solid

 

I might sound crazy but 78, 80, 82 wins doesn't sound too far fetched

[GreenSox]

I might sound crazy but 78, 80, 82 wins doesn't sound too far fetched

Now look at the starting pitching. 2 or 3 developing youngsters who, hopefully, pitch like mid-rotation guys. Shields, with the improved arm slot, could be a solid #5. Gonzalez who's around a #7. Santiago? maybe a 5. Fulmer?

[kwolf68]

 

Good post. Totally agree. I think the bullpen will be the surprise of this year. Chris Volstad, who has been fairly useless for a few years now, was absolutely dominating this spring and still got sent down. A case could even be made that he was the Sox best pitcher this Spring.

 

Other notes:

 

-Nate jones looks awesome coming back from injury

-Soria will be just fine

-Avilan will be dominant, especially against lefties. I also think Bummer will do quite well

 

Then journeymen types like Rondon and Santiago actually pitched quite well this spring. The Sox pen, I thought was a trainwreck 6 weeks ago, now looks like it could be a strength. Still wish we had Kahnle.

[BamaDoc]

I am wondering if not naming a closer is in part a measure to protect Jones. I wouldn't pitch him back to back days for awhile and you would not put that limitation on your announced closer. Possibly someone else gets some saves and pads their stats for trading.

[bmags]

This year will be interesting. If this year we see some of our minor league contract guys pan out again, there are some takeaways:

1. Our pro scouting has improved and I'll be more confident when we start adding bigger pieces the next two years

2. Our investment on scouting specifically relief pitching is starting to pay off

 

With #2, not sure if that would actually apply to the players that would perform in majors. But if that wave of Tyler Johnson, Henzman, Olson, Burr, etc etc also perform well in minors, sox may have put some valuable bullpen assets together.

[southsider2k5]

Bullpens are so volatile. You need so much to go right for a good bullpen, and to try to remake one on the fly without premier type players in place as anchors is a fools proposition. I have no doubt some of these guys will thrive, but I don't think I can go as far as it being a strength. At this stage you are just hoping for growth from young guys, and maybe some assets pitching their way out of Chicago for more prospects.`

 

[greg775]

If you are right and the bullpen is actually good, it changes everything. We win a ton more games.