Jenks could be ready to pitch Wednesday

MINNEAPOLIS - Bobby Jenks has been up and down for the White Sox this season, and he's been in and out of the trainer's room as well.

On the latter front, it looked Jenks was heading for the disabled list after he had to cut short last Thursday's outing against the Twins due to back spasms.

But Jenks was feeling much better Tuesday, and he is looking forward to helping the Sox as soon as Wednesday after throwing 30 pitches in the bullpen.

"I started out light and worked into a good workout," Jenks said. "Everything felt fine."

That's good news for a White Sox bullpen that was out of sorts while dropping back-to-back home games to the Tigers over the weekend.

With Jenks unavailable to pitch in the three-game series, J.J. Putz was moved up to an uncomfortable role and he wound up losing both games to Detroit.

"I've got people there that can do the job," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "Unfortunately, the last few days they couldn't get it done. But I keep saying, when Bobby's in our bullpen, our bullpen is very, very good. When he's not there, it's just good. I think we need that guy. There've been a lot of setbacks for him all year long. Hopefully, the games we have left, he's ready to go."

Jenks, who is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA and 2 blown saves since the all-star break, feels the same way. And it's no secret the 29-year-old reliever wants to eventually reclaim his closer's role.

"I'm definitely going to have to spend an outing or two off the mound, seeing hitters in the box, before they are going to throw me back in the ninth," Jenks said. "Just the fact that I haven't been off the mound in a week or so and haven't seen a hitter. If the ball comes out of my hand like it did today, I don't see why not in the next day or two. I threw pretty much everything, to both sides of the plate. The ball was coming out of my hand good."

Can Jenks be as effective as he was while converting 15 straight save opportunities from May 11-July 15? Can he keep his back and troublesome calf healthy?

"Coop (pitching coach Don Cooper) saw him throw," Guillen said. "He said he was throwing the ball extremely well. We need him for the next (43) games we have left. Hopefully, he doesn't have another setback and he helps us to get where we want to get."