Rozner: Ventura, White Sox not scared of expectations

As SoxFest came to a close Sunday, with the 10-year anniversary of the 2005 World Series team as a backdrop, there was no mistaking the vibe for 2015.

And talk of another trip to the Fall Classic.

It is just a tad early to be discussing playoffs when pitchers and catchers are still a few weeks away, but there's no doubting the mood of the organization and fan base after a winter of adding important pieces to the puzzle.

There's also the added bonus of pressure.

"We want the pressure," said manager Robin Ventura. "It's great. If people put expectations on us, that's fun."

For some, the added focus can cause problems, but Ventura says it's nothing more than a part of the game.

"I'm not going to change anything, not going to change the way I act or anything," Ventura said. "We're much better than we were before. We expect to win a lot of games.

"We think we're better, but there's no guarantee. We'll see how it goes."

Ventura did not receive terrific reviews in 2014 and seemed to struggle handling the bullpen more than anything else. Bad bullpens often make for bad managers, but there were many times Ventura left critics scratching their heads.

GM Rick Hahn says that in this case, Ventura had information the rest of us didn't.

"Last year's bullpen was such a mess because of the injuries and because we had so many young guys down there that early on we talked about what to do," Hahn said. "We really felt like he and (pitching coach) Don Cooper were freed up do what they wanted so we could learn about these guys.

"I said, 'You want to not anoint a guy as closer? Fine. You want to pitch a guy 2 innings? You want to go righty vs. lefty? Bring in a righty to replace a righty to face a lefty? Pitch a guy 2 innings to finish a game? Go ahead.'

"Although it might have cost us in the short run a game or two in a season when quite frankly we were not in a position to win, we can benefit long term from what we learned about them.

"When we are prepared to win, we thought, they can slide into various roles more easily, more prepared for what's coming."

So Ventura had management's blessing to make some bullpen moves that looked odd to anyone who wasn't in that meeting.

"Absolutely, 100 percent," Hahn said. "We all want to win that game, that night. However, if we don't have personnel in a position to make obvious choices, let's learn about them for the long term. Push them, challenge them and hopefully they grow from that."

A manager often has information he can never share with the public. Sometimes a player has an injury or a personal problem, but since the manager can't reveal it, he has to sometimes look like he's making a dumb move.

In the case of last season's bullpen, Ventura was merely following orders.

"It's just part of the job. It's part of why you get paid," he said. "I knew that coming in. I saw a lot of managers do it for players when I played.

"Sometimes you don't look real bright and just kind of have to eat it, wear it, whatever. We did some fact-finding last year and maybe sometimes people wondered what I was doing, but we had reasons."

The Sox have since added closer David Robertson and lefty setup men Zach Duke and Dan Jennings, which should really improve the quality of life for righties Jake Petricka and Zach Putnam.

"If Nate Jones had been healthy or Matt Lindstrom didn't go down when he was stabilizing the ninth, or (Ronald) Belisario didn't implode, or all the things that happened, then perhaps it would have been a more traditional bullpen," Hahn said. "But once the wheels started coming off that thing …

"We're just in a better spot because of what Robin was able to do, experimenting last season. We know so much more about them."

The improved bullpen is just one of many reasons the Sox are expected to be significantly better, but it's worth remembering they finished 17 games behind Detroit and 16 games under .500.

"You can't get too excited in advance," said Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf. "You have to play the games."

And so the White Sox head to spring training soon with only a few decisions to make but carrying the burden of expectations.

"I don't view it as pressure," Hahn said. "I'll take a full house and expectations every day. No one will have higher expectations for us than we do."

That should offer Ventura at least a little relief.

• Hear Barry Rozner on WSCR 670-AM and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.