At the midway point of the 2007 season, the White Sox bullpen was in shambles. David Aardsma, Andrew Sisco, Nick Masset, and Boone Logan all saw their ERAs soar to around 5.00 or higher.
Matt Thornton appeared to have lost what he had in 2006, and the same went for Mike MacDougal.
The scrap-heap acquisitions of Bret Prinz, Mike Myers, and Ryan Bukvich were pitching like they didn't belong in the majors.
And there was no help on the foreseeable horizon outside of Ehren Wassermann, who is a right-handed specialist at best.
While Tampa Bay's bullpen may have had a higher ERA in 2007, the White Sox had the worst bullpen in the majors when you consider the expectations that were placed on them—to contend.
If you would have told me in 2007 that, at this point in the 2008 season, the White Sox and [Devil] Rays would have two of the best bullpens in baseball, I probably wouldn't have believed it.
But that's exactly the case. This is an article about the White Sox, so I won't delve into Tampa Bay's drastic bullpen turnaround (which has been keyed by Troy Percival, J.P. Howell, and Dan Wheeler), but I can say this: the Red Sox will have their hands full for the rest of the season.
But I digress. The White Sox's bullpen turnaround began when Bukvich and Myers were let go and Aardsma was traded to Boston. Sisco eventually pitched his way out of the organization and became one of the few busts Kenny Williams has traded for since the ill-fated Todd Ritchie and Billy Koch trades.
So that left the White Sox with Bobby Jenks, Matt Thornton, Mike MacDougal, Wassermann, Logan, and Masset returning from their 2007 bullpen.
The White Sox needed more, though, so Williams went out and threw a combine $30 million at Scott Linebrink and Octavio Dotel, both of whom did not have spectacular 2007 seasons. However, they were veteran relievers, something the '07 White Sox sorely lacked.
Although Dotel has had his fair share of blips in the radar, he still leads all American League relievers with 53 strikeouts, a total he has compiled in 37.2 innings. When Dotel is getting his fastball over and not hanging his slider, he's unhittable. He's still a pitcher who the White Sox should feel confident about putting on the mound with a lead in the seventh inning, as his complete body of work this year indicates that he'll get the job done more often than not.
Linebrink may have had the biggest impact on this team in the first half, with apologies to Carlos Quentin. Linebrink has appeared in 36 games and hasn't allowed a run in the eighth inning since April. In fact, he gave up just two earned runs in May and June—unfortunately, though, they were walk-off home runs to Cliff Floyd and Aramis Ramirez.
Ninth-inning home runs aside, Linebrink has been automatic out of the White Sox's bullpen. He deserves to make the American League All-Star team this year, and hopefully, Terry Francona has taken notice of his performance.
Without the steady arm of Linebrink pitching the eighth inning, the White Sox likely would not be where they are right now.
The turnarounds of Thornton, Logan, and Masset cannot be discounted, however.
Thornton has been spectacular this year, posting a 2.27 ERA in 31.2 innings. He hasn't allowed a run since giving up a walk-off home run to Tampa Bay's Gabe Gross on June 1, a stretch spanning 11.0 innings. Thornton has been locating his upper-90's fastball with pinpoint accuracy and isn't throwing as many breaking pitches as he used to.
When you're a lefty with the fastball of Thornton's, you don't need to throw many breaking balls.
Thornton has developed into one of the best left-handed setup men in the league. However, if we're talking about great left-handed relievers, look no further than a teammate of Thornton's.
In 2006, Boone Logan went from single-A nobody to major-league reliever. He struggled that year and into 2007, and many wrote Logan off as being a major-league reliever.
What they didn't realize was that Logan was still very, very young. The lefty will turn just 24 in August and has really started to come into his own as a dominant reliever this year.
It was noted in spring training that Logan's fastball was creeping into the mid-90's, but it was brushed off by many as being a trivial detail after Logan posted a 4.79 ERA in 2007.
That fastball has transformed Logan from a mop-up guy to a reliever that can be counted on in late-game situations. Logan has been locating his fastball well and using it to set up his big, sweeping breaking ball.
In the month of May, Logan did not allow an earned run in 7.2 innings. He allowed just two earned runs in June, lowering his ERA to 2.22.
Logan's outing on June 4 against Kansas City may have been the best of his career, as he threw just 18 pitches in 2.1 perfect innings to keep the Royals at bay during a 15-inning marathon that was eventually won on a walk-off home run by Paul Konerko.
If Logan was written off in spring training, then Nick Masset was an afterthought. In fact, Masset wasn't even supposed to make the team out of spring training, but he finagled his way onto the team as the last man on the roster.
Masset currently holds the highest ERA of any regular White Sox relief pitcher at 3.31. To put that in context—an ERA of 3.31 would have been good for third-best on the 2007 White Sox.
After beginning the season as the White Sox' long reliever and eating some valuable early-season innings, Masset has slowly been switched to a later-inning role, appearing in the sixth and seventh innings of close games more often.
Masset is the proverbial "swingman" of the White Sox bullpen. He can eat some innings in the middle of a game if a starter gets knocked out early or he can come in and get a few key outs in the sixth or seventh inning. While he isn't dominant by any stretch of the imagination, he's far exceeded expectations and has done a fine job out of the bullpen.
The final relief spot on this team has been a revolving door between MacDougal, Wassermann, Esteban Loaiza, and Adam Russell. MacDougal and Wassermann likely won't see the majors until September, if at all (barring an injury to a MLB reliever), but Loaiza and Russell likely will.
Loaiza was brought on to be a long reliever after the Dodgers released him in June, but his velocity is far too low for a MLB pitcher, hovering around 80 mph on his fastball. He's on a minor-league rehab assignment with AAA Charlotte and likely will get called back up if his velocity gets back into the upper 80's or low 90's.
I personally like what I've seen from the 6'8", 250-lb. Russell. He throws a good downhill fastball from his height and could become a solid middle reliever if he develops his offspeed pitches well. He's only appeared in three games since joining the White Sox in mid-June, but hopefully he's learned something from being around all these successful relievers in the White Sox bullpen.
Speaking of successful, that brings me to the final—and most obvious—member of this White Sox bullpen, Bobby Jenks.
When Jenks entered the league in 2005, he was a kid with a blazing fastball and devastating curveball. He recorded more than a few big saves for the White Sox in October of 2005 and nailed down 41 saves in 2006. However, the league caught up to Jenks in 2006, as his ERA rose to 4.00.
Good pitchers make adjustments, and Jenks made an adjustment. He's changed from a thrower to a pitcher, and it's really paid off.
While Jenks doesn't get the kind of strikeout numbers you'd normally want from your closer and gets into a few more jams than he should, he knows how to pitch. Case in point: Saturday's game against the Cubs. After allowing a leadoff double to Derrek Lee and a productive groundout by Daryle Ward that moved Lee to third, Jenks was in a huge jam.
Runner on third, one out, one-run lead, Aramis Ramirez and Jim Edmonds coming up.
The old Jenks would have tried to blow a few fastballs by Ramirez and Edmonds, and he easily could have been burned by it.
What Jenks did was locate his fastball perfectly to Ramirez and Edmonds, getting them to ground out to short and second to end the game.
Jenks' composure on the mound is also a huge reason why he's 18/21 in save opportunities this year. He doesn't get rattled when the other team gets a few guys on, because he knows he can pitch out of it.
Like the rest of the White Sox bullpen, Jenks hasn't throw many innings—just 32.1 in the first half.
The White Sox are among the leaders in baseball in fewest innings pitched by a bullpen, and that bodes well for the stretch run. This group will not tire come August and September, and they're a battle-tested group.
In short: don't expect this bullpen to falter anytime soon. This isn't 2007 anymore.
Pre-season grade: B-First-half grade: A+
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