AND THAT'S A WHITE SOX WINNER!!!

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

Jenks is the man and he has been for a while. He was a gift out of nowhere who was a huge a part of the magical 2005 season. Not trying to say he is the same pitcher he was then , but all these panic attacks about Jenks bother me. He has evolved into what is he now . He doesn't have the same over powering fastball he once did but how long could that actually be done by any pitcher especially one with a screw in his elbow.

 

Let's all just back away from the ledge and give the man his due. Until he starts blowing saves on a consistent basis I don't care how inconsistent his stuff is. Nothing comes easy that's life. Bottom line you either get the save or you don't. If your hearts can't take the drama give up watching baseball and take up knitting. It teaches you patience which I don't see a helluva lot around here.

[shawnhillegas]

big win.

[Kyyle23]

Hmmm, everyone is talking about Bobbys performance like it is something we havent seen him do since he has been with the sox. Im pretty sure he has always been a shaky closer, putting people on and getting out of jams(as well as blowing games with jams he couldnt get out of).

 

Great win, im glad Teahen could get the big hits in this game, he is a streaky hitter and I hope that he can get on a nice streak. Jones was a monster, both of his homeruns were impressive. With all of the s*** that the fans were giving Rios(and that was the rowdiest Rogers Center crowd I can ever remember) it was great to see him get 3 hits and hit the ball well each time.

[hogan873]

Nice to see an extra inning win...especially on the road. I was impressed by Jones. He obviously can still hit. Last night's game was the first time I got to see Santos pitch. All I can say is wow. He's got nasty stuff.

 

I'm moderately concerned, but not necessarily worried about Peavy. His next start will be very important. He needs to get back to the form he was in late last year.

[MHizzle85]

Really good to see the boys snap a 10 game losing streak in Toronto. Let's keep it rolling!

[ThunderBolt]

Jenks looked good against Minnesota?

 

I'm not so sure about that. Those were two pretty shaky saves, although I guess they all look like 1-2-3 innings as far as converted save/save opportunity, which is the bottom line.

Bobby pretty much blew the save in the last Twins game. He got bailed out my a terrrible choice by the Twins 3rd base coauch. I just don't have that much faith in Bobby anymore. He's shown regression over the last few years and he let's too many men on. That being said, i don't see any other place for him on the team, but in the closer's spot. Guys like Putz, Thornton and Santos are far more valuable to the team working outside of it.

Edited April 13, 2010 by Thunderbolt

[ChiSox_Sonix]

I have a question - why was Pierre not given credit for a SB in the extra innings? They called it fielders indifference. Thing is though, it's not as if we were down 5 runs and his run didn't matter. We were up only 1. By allowing him second base it put another RISP with no outs and removed the DP and force out play. Hawk also said that they would not have gotten him even with a throw and that they were holding him on at first. Doesn't matter in the scheme of things but to me that should have been credited as a SB.

[ChiSox_Sonix]

Bobby pretty much blew the save in the last Twins game. He got bailed out my a terrrible choice by the Twins 3rd base coauch. I find Rock Raines confidence in a closer that's been showing signs of regression for years and is putting too many men on base to be more alarming then it is charming.

 

He basically made one bad pitch the entire inning. Pretty sure you can't count on any closer to make perfect pitches every single pitch. God this is getting tiring.

[caulfield12]

We really haven't had a true "shutdown" closer like a Mo Rivera, Joe Nathan, Papelbon, Hoffman, etc., in my lifetime.

 

Bobby Thigpen had some of the messiest saves of anyone I can ever remember in recent Sox history.

 

You look back at the list since then, Roberto Hernandez, Howry, Foulke (always very good except against the most exceptional teams or key divisional opponents like the Twins or Indians), Takatsu, Hermanson, then Jenks. The irony is that the only "true" born/bred/groomed closer we had in the last 20+ years was Billy Koch, and he turned out to be the biggest disappointment, by far.

 

Hermanson, you might never see a White Sox reliever have a season like he did from May-July of 2005. Same thing with Politte and Cotts that year.

 

Jenks will probably end up with a 75-85% save conversion rate again this season. Usually we define the "elite" closers at being anything about 85%, just like we do for stolen base percentage.

 

Our BEST possible hope for the future becomes Sergio Santos morphing into the Jenks of 2005-2007.

 

That becomes THE decision of the offseason (tendering/trading Jenks), along with retaining Konerko (someone suggested 3 years and $20 million, KW might offer 2 and see if Paulie will try to find a longer deal on the open market at his age) and whether Viciedo and Jordan Danks can make contributions in 2011.

Edited April 13, 2010 by caulfield12

[southsider2k5]

Bobby pretty much blew the save in the last Twins game. He got bailed out my a terrrible choice by the Twins 3rd base coauch. I find Rock Raines confidence in a closer that's been showing signs of regression for years and is putting too many men on base to be more alarming then it is charming.

 

To be fair, we don't know that. If the Twins 3B coach holds up the runner like he should have, that meant another hitter had to get a hit for the tying run to score.

[ChiSox_Sonix]

Pfff, are you kidding me? I suspect you think all hitters should hit 1.000. Bobby had excellent stuff and was getting squeezed. That last pitch sequence was f***ing nasty.

 

Thank you. I agree with a lot of people that he didnt look great last night, but to me that was due to poor command. His actual stuff looked fine. The change he got Lind on to end the game was great. A good 11 or 12 mph less than his FB and late diving low and away action on it. That's close to unhittable for left-handed hitters. The first cutter he threw also looked really good to me. I didn't even realize he added one of those. The problem was obviously command, but I also don't think he was mixing his pitches enough. He can't just use cutter, cutter, FB. He needs more of that change and has to throw his curve more often than once in two innings.

[Balta1701]

I have a question - why was Pierre not given credit for a SB in the extra innings? They called it fielders indifference. Thing is though, it's not as if we were down 5 runs and his run didn't matter. We were up only 1. By allowing him second base it put another RISP with no outs and removed the DP and force out play. Hawk also said that they would not have gotten him even with a throw and that they were holding him on at first. Doesn't matter in the scheme of things but to me that should have been credited as a SB.

That was a "you're on the road" call. The home team gets that for his stats. There was no throw or effort to make one, so they could have a point, but they were holding him on at 1b.

[RockRaines]

Bobby pretty much blew the save in the last Twins game. He got bailed out my a terrrible choice by the Twins 3rd base coauch. I find Rock Raines confidence in a closer that's been showing signs of regression for years and is putting too many men on base to be more alarming then it is charming.

LOL regression "for years" 5 years in the majors, 3 sub 3 ERA's as recent as 2008. Where is the regression?

[RockRaines]

Jenks had his velocity and almost blew it...

 

Back in 07, Bobby was one of the best closers in baseball. He's taken a real long dive since then.

You mean like in 2008 when he had a 2.63 ERA and a WHIP of 1.10. Damn what a nosedive. It's like you cant even google anything to make a crappy point.

[hogan873]

I've mentioned this before, and I still think it's true: Jenks was a better closer when he had his 100 mph heat and the deadly curve. I'm not saying it's not wise to diversify (especially to avoid arm damage), but I'm not sure Jenks has caught on to what Coop wanted from him. He seems timid with his curve, and his fastball is not as effective. He had some great pitches last night, and the change-up for the final strike was nice. He seems to get too selective after two outs...almost as if he's trying too hard.

[Harry Chappas]

Somehow Jenks got one of the best young left handed hitters to look real bad with the winning run on first......his stuff must be really bad. I think Jenks can pitch over walks and I think his stuff looks really good.

 

Thorton is being used how he should in the 7th and 8th against tough lefties.

 

I like how this bullpen is setting up with Jenks taking the high pressure situations.

[bmags]

it doesn't really matter if there is a regression. A closer can simply suck out of the blue. If Bobby starts to suck his future with the white sox is donezo.

[nitetrain8601]

I've mentioned this before, and I still think it's true: Jenks was a better closer when he had his 100 mph heat and the deadly curve. I'm not saying it's not wise to diversify (especially to avoid arm damage), but I'm not sure Jenks has caught on to what Coop wanted from him. He seems timid with his curve, and his fastball is not as effective. He had some great pitches last night, and the change-up for the final strike was nice. He seems to get too selective after two outs...almost as if he's trying too hard.

 

I agree big time.

[ScottyDo]

Bobby pretty much blew the save in the last Twins game. He got bailed out my a terrrible choice by the Twins 3rd base coauch. I just don't have that much faith in Bobby anymore. He's shown regression over the last few years and he let's too many men on. That being said, i don't see any other place for him on the team, but in the closer's spot. Guys like Putz, Thornton and Santos are far more valuable to the team working outside of it.

I don't understand how he blew the save. If the 3rd base coach doesn't send Hardy, then he's at 3b with two outs. How is that a blown save? You can just assume that Punto drives him in because one person hit Bobby hard? What? That's a totally ludicrous assumption.

[caulfield12]

With our history against the Twins, most Sox fans probably assumed Punto would somehow dink/dunk a ball into short RCF for the game-winner.

 

It doesn't matter what actually happened...!!! It's the possibility of what most were expecting to happen next that counts the most.

[ScottyDo]

I've mentioned this before, and I still think it's true: Jenks was a better closer when he had his 100 mph heat and the deadly curve. I'm not saying it's not wise to diversify (especially to avoid arm damage), but I'm not sure Jenks has caught on to what Coop wanted from him. He seems timid with his curve, and his fastball is not as effective. He had some great pitches last night, and the change-up for the final strike was nice. He seems to get too selective after two outs...almost as if he's trying too hard.

Perhaps, but that doesn't have much to do with his recent "struggles". He walked two batters last night because of mild struggles with command, not because of the type of pitcher he is. If he was a two-pitch pitcher with higher velocity, he still would not have hit the strike zone.

 

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but when Bobby retired all those batters in a row, he was beginning his change to a more versatile style of pitcher, right?

[bmags]

come on guys, it's not like the closer will singlehandedly break this team./guess

[BigSqwert]

I'll still take Jenks over Rausch.

[Steve9347]

I'll still take Jenks over Rausch.

Rauch.

 

And yes.

[iamshack]

come on guys, it's not like the closer will singlehandedly break this team./guess

zing