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Bullpen Discussion


NorthSideSox72

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QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 10:22 AM)
So we are saying

 

Jenks

Thornton

Dotel

Linebrink are 100% in

 

With Clayton Richard in as long as he isn't a starter.

 

For my money, I want to see both Marquez and Poreda in Charlotte starting if Richard is in the pen. After that I would go with DJ Carrasco and Lance Broadway as the garbage man.

 

If the Sox think Poreda's future is in the pen, then go ahead and bring him north. If not, send him to Charlotte and let him work on his third pitch.

Yup

 

Jenks

Line

Thornton

Dotel

Richard

Carrasco

Marquez/Wass

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QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 11:30 AM)
Yup

 

Jenks

Line

Thornton

Dotel

Richard

Carrasco

Marquez/Wass

I think the Carrasco, Marquez/Wass spots are completely up for grabs with Egbert being the current leader. If Colon isn't ready to start the season Richard is still the favorite for 5th starter which leave room for another lefty in the pen.

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Assuming Colon is healthy, Richard goes to the pen. And from what the writers are saying, it seems like Marquez is a lock for the pen as well (which I disagree with, but, oh well). So the pen already will have 2 guys who can go long innings, and also 2 lefties (unless Colon is out and Richard goes to rotation).

 

If the set part of the pen is:

 

Jenks

Linebrink

Dotel

Thornton

Richard

Marquez

 

That leaves just ONE slot (two if Colon isn't ready for opening day) for these guys, so far (Marquez removed due to above, German hasn't pitched in a over a week so I assume he was reassigned)...

 

Egbert (8 games): 13.1 IP, 2.70 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 11/4 K/BB

Carrasco (8 games): 12 IP, 4.50 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 10/5 K/BB

Poreda (4 games): 10.1 IP, 6.10 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 6/3 K/BB

Williams (9 games): 9.2 IP, 0.93 ERA, 0.72 WHIP, 7/2 K/BB

MacDougal (9 games): 9 IP, 4.00 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, 16/5 K/BB

Broadway (6 games): 8.2 IP, 5.19 ERA, 1.83 WHIP, 9/6 K/BB

Russell (7 games): 7 IP, 10.29 ERA, 1.86 WHIP, 4/4 K/BB

German (6 games): 6 IP, 6.00 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 4/1 K/BB

Wassermann (6 games): 5 IP, 7.20 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, 5/1 K/BB

 

That's a big crowd for one or two jobs. I think its likely we see that group cut by half or more, in the next few days.

 

If I had to guess, these guys get cut in the next few days and sent to minor league camp: Wassermann, German, Russell, Poreda. I'd include Broadway, except I think they are really hoping someone wants to trade for him. But he may also get cut in that group. That gives you Eggy, Carrasco, Williams (as 2nd lefty if Richard starts) and MacDougal in the running.

 

 

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Despite so many bullpen spots left to fill, I feel very optimistic and confident with the bullpen. I think we got one of the best back-end corps of relievers in the majors.

 

Jenks

Linebrink

Dotel

Thornton

 

Those are 4 very solid guys for the late innings of winning ball games, I feel like we are in a great spot to win with any of those 4 guys on the mound. Linebrink, Dotel, and Thornton can all be counted on for the 8th and 7th innings, which is great depth. Also, Dotel has got to be one of the most underappreciated relievers in White Sox history. People seem to only remember his bad moments rather than all the times he was lights-out and got some much-needed strikeouts in high-pressure situations. He had 92 strikeouts in 67 innings last year! For that kind of strikeout rate, I'd be more than happy to put up with his 3.76 era. I can also only think of a handful of non-closer relievers that had similar innings-to-strikeouts rates like Dotel last year, and they are: Marmol 87.1-to-114, Balfour 58.1-to-82, Cruz 51.2-to-71, and I think Dotel has every right to mentioned in the same breath as those guys, despite his era being a little higher, but with 92 k's that's not such a bad trade-off.

 

Also, another thing that makes me excited about the White Sox bullpen is when I compare our Big 4 (Jenks/Linebrink/Dotel/Thornton) to what other bullpens in the Central Division has for similar roles:

 

Detroit:

9th: Lyon (kinda sucks)

8th: Zumaya/Rodney (solid)

 

Cleveland:

9th: Wood (injury risk)

8th: Perez/Lewis (solid)

7th: Betancourt (sucks)

 

Minnesota:

9th: Nathan (solid)

8th: nobody special (supposed to be Gurrier?)

 

Kansas City:

9th: Soria (solid)

8th: Cruz/Farnsworth (solid)

 

In fact, the only bullpen I think has 8th and 9th inning guys that stack up well with ours, and be competitive, is Kansas City. Really, Kansas City has done a great job at building their bullpen up to this point.

 

Based on guys that would pitch 8th and 9th innings of winning ballgames, I'd rank the AL Central bullpens as:

1. White Sox

2. Kansas City

3. Cleveland

4. Detroit

5. Minnesota

 

Also, just for giggles, lets look at the Cubs:

9th: Gregg/Marmol

8th: Gregg/Marmol

 

Just 2 guys and they're almost interchangeable. We got 4 solid guys and they got two. The Cubs has more relievers that you'd rather pitch in losing ballgames to keep your solid guys fresh, and guys you'd rather have pitching the 6th and 7th innings.

 

So yea, the Sox bullpen is one of our strengths, have confidence, everyone.

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Minnesota is going to have Jesse Crain in the 8th. They also have Mijares who may open the season in the minors but should probably be up within a month. Craig Breslow isn't a bad option for them either.

 

One thing's certain, I would never, ever have Minnesota last in regards to the bullpen. At the very worst, I would have them 3rd, but I don't think I've ever seen someone manage a bullpen better than Ron Gardenhire.

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It's looking like Richard, Poreda, Marquez, Carasco and MacDougal at this point (two of those guys, perhaps three). I wouldn't be surprised if Mike, with the strikeouts he's been accumulating, is given one more chance to re-establish his value and maybe we don't have to eat his whole salary. The Indians could definitely use another arm in the pen, but you know KW won't send him there would it could bite us in the butt. You have this strange notion Wood might go down with an injury and MacDougal gets it together and has a better year than Jenks. Things like that always seem to happen with relievers.

 

Wasserman and Russell are looking better than in the first stages of camp, but we have options on both I'm sure.

 

Not sure how serious they are about Egbert (or Kroeger), it's hard to get a reading on that. You don't see their names come up very often...you assume they're destined for AAA.

 

I would love to see them keep scanning the waiver wires or look to make a deal though for CF....Kroeger and David Cook might even come into consideration. I just hope they keep Beckham at 2B and don't put him in CF, that seems HIGHLY HIGHLY unlikely, though.

Edited by caulfield12
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QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 25, 2009 -> 07:36 AM)
I don't know how he has really looked, but he has 18 strikeouts in 10 IP.

 

He's found the strike zone again, how long that will last is the question.

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In one of the Trib articles today, it was mentioned that Ozzie wants to get the 25 man roster set, or nearly so, by early next week. So expect to see a lot of cuts soon, maybe even today.

 

German was reassigned someone mentioned earlier, but Wassermann pitched yesterday. Actually some very good performances across the board for the relief pitchers in yesterday's game.

 

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QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 25, 2009 -> 10:12 AM)
Since he spent a large portion of last season in the minors he'll be arbitration eligible next season.

The Sox have an option for $3.5M on him next year with a $350K buyout.

 

If MacDougal can just make the team and pitch well for one month there's going to be a GM who will make a deal for him. We'll be able to dump his salary, dump the buyout in 2010, and maybe even get a mid-level prospect for him too since he has that kind of arm and EVERYBODY needs pitching.

 

Of course the catch is that if he's pitching well a month into the season then we're probably not going to move him.

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