Despite winning the last two games versus the Toronto Blue
Jays, the current 11-game road trip for the Chicago White Sox has been one to
forget. Most notably, the White Sox have found ways to blow late leads that has
resulted in a change at the back of the bullpen. Ronald Belisario’s near blown
save on Friday night finally forced manager Robin Ventura to make a change. I
know many fans, myself included, have been clamoring for this to happen for a
while, but unfortunately there are not many options to choose from on the
current roster. As a result, Ventura has stated that the club will be using a
closer-by-committee approach for the time being.
Since there are no obvious candidates to fill the role
permanently, this decision makes the most sense. Jake Petricka bailed out
Belisario on Friday night and Zach Putnam got the first crack this afternoon,
but I imagine others will get a shot as well depending on matchups. Ideally,
you would hope that someone emerges and takes over as the primary closer within
a few weeks. If that does not happen, then the committee will be in place until
Nate Jones returns from the disabled list. Currently, there is no timetable for
Jones’ return, but he is reportedly progressing well from back surgery. If I
had to guess, I would say that he should be back shortly after the All-star
break. Since Jones was the most likely candidate to take over as closer following
the departure of Addison Reed, it would be nice to have him healthy for the
final two months to prove whether or not he has what it takes to pitch in the
ninth inning.
-Eric Tichelbaut
Twitter: @etichel07
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