Unlike 2005, the White Sox Will Need Their Bullpen This Postseason

In the 2005 post-season, the White Sox starting pitching famously kept the bullpen where they belonged—in the bullpen.  While Bobby Jenks and Orlando Hernandez (who was a starter during the season) are remembered for their post-season heroics, the Sox didn't have to rely on a Dustin Hermanson or Luis Vizcaino to save the day.  This year, especially with facing a gritty Tampa Bay Ray team, things will probably be different. 

The starting rotation of the White Sox has been pretty good all season, but I don't think the rotation has the ability to dominate like it did in 2005.  Mark Buehrle is the most likely to throw a complete game and John Danks and Gavin Floyd are capable, but their playoff inexperience may show. 

Javier Vasquez is back to the Vasquez of 2006 and 2007, who couldn’t get past the sixth inning.  If it weren’t for the loss of Jose Contreras to injury, Vasquez would be in the bullpen.

Bobby Jenks is the only relief pitcher remaining from the 2005 World Championship team.  (Where have you gone Cliff Politte?) Jenks still cranks out the saves with 30 of 34 opportunities and can pitch two or three innings if necessary. 

His strikeout total is surprisingly low for a closer, averaging only 0.6 strikeouts per inning, but his ERA is well under 3.00.  Manager Ozzie Guillen doesn’t hesitate going to “the big guy” in any situation.

Earlier in the season when the White Sox were pulling out to their lead in the American League Central, Scott Linebrink was setting up Jenks like he had set up Trevor Hoffman for years in San Diego.  But, a mid-season injury put Linebrink on the DL for several weeks and he still isn’t back to dominating batters like he was earlier in the season. 

Before Linebrink got hurt, the games were shortened for the starting staff by having Jenks pitch the ninth, Linebrink set up in the eighth inning and a combination of Octavio Dotel and Matt Thornton pitching the sixth and seventh depending on righty-lefty match-ups. 

Both these guys live by the strikeout with Dotel averaging 1.3 strikeouts per inning pitched and Thornton averaging more than one per inning as well.  The problem with Dotel is if he doesn’t strike you out, he may be giving up a gopher ball.  He gave up 12 homeruns in his 67 innings pitched.  Thornton, the lefty, (and the former Grand Valley State University Laker,) has an ERA under 3.00.

To be honest, I don’t know much about the rest of the guys in the bullpen on the playoff roster, and if they get in games, that’s probably not a good sign. Clayton Richard pitched a great three innings today in Game One of the ALDS, holding the Rays scoreless.  Richard was one of the minor leaguers brought up during the season to try and fill the fifth spot in the starting rotation when Contreras went down.  He didn’t do particularly well in that role and Ozzie moved him to long relief when he shifted to the four-man rotation. 

D.J. Carrasco and Adam Russell could be related to me and I wouldn’t know it.  They both have respectable stats as any pitchers on a playoff roster should, but without a 13-11 slugfest during the series (or another Javy Vasquez start), they probably won’t see the pitchers’ mound.

It will be interesting to see how Ozzie uses the bullpen this post-season.  While I think the 2005 bullpen was better than this group, Ozzie relied heavily on his starters in their run to the championship.  The starters aren’t fresh this year with the division race going down to the last week and beyond and may not be as dominating.