Sox, Thornton anxious to get the bullpen settled
CLEVELAND - The White Sox are looking forward to adding another player who is sure to help them down the stretch.
And no, it is not Manny Ramirez.
It's Matt Thornton, and the Sox' all-star reliever is on track to come off the disabled list on Thursday and be ready to pitch against the Red Sox on Friday.
Drenched in sweat after throwing 40 pitches in a simulated game of sorts in the bullpen Wednesday morning at Progressive Field, Thornton said the elbow inflammation that drove him to the disabled list has dissipated.
"Everything's on schedule," Thornton said. "I'll be back Friday it looks like, barring waking up tomorrow and being sore. But the way it's going so far, I don't see that being a problem."
Thornton last pitched on Aug. 17, when he served up Jim Thome's game-winning 2-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning at Minnesota.
With J.J. Putz (right knee) feeling better and ready to come off the disabled list on Tuesday at Detroit, the White Sox' beat-up bullpen is positioned to get a needed boost.
"Absolutely," Thornton said. "Anytime you have two of your main bullpen pieces go down this time of year, it's tough for those other guys to eat those innings. I get back this weekend and J.J. is right behind me. We'll get back to full strength and back to what we were doing before."
Closer Bobby Jenks has been carrying the heaviest load with Thornton and Putz on the sidelines. Jenks has appeared in five of the Sox' last 10 games, logging 71/3 innings.
Jenks got a needed day off Wednesday and impressive rookie Chris Sale worked out of some trouble and overcame a bad throw from third baseman Mark Teahan in the ninth inning to earn his first major-league save.
"We need (Thornton and Putz), believe me," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "The reason (Edwin) Jackson threw (129) pitches (Tuesday) was because we're very short and my best bet was him. Not because I don't have confidence in all the guys, it's just what the situation was and that's why we left him in there.
"Our bullpen did a tremendous job without (Thornton and Putz). Hopefully, when those guys come back we're the team we want to have and we can make a pretty good run."