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White Sox coaching staff features familiar faces

The White Sox are expected to have a better team this season.

Robin Ventura, in turn, is expected to be a better manager.

If the Sox are treading water on June 1, maybe even earlier, Ventura is going to be feeling some serious heat. He knows what to expect.

"I think you want that," Ventura said. "If there isn't pressure, then you're not playing for the right things. If that's what it is, that's great. I'm not going to act any different or do anything different."

Like most major-league managers, Ventura was often criticized for the way he handled the bullpen last season.

The Sox lost 16 games when leading in the eighth and ninth innings, but general manager Rick Hahn blamed himself for not supplying Ventura with better talent.

When likely closers Nate Jones and Matt Lindstrom went down early with injuries, Ventura had little choice but to use a mishmash of Scott Downs, Javy Guerra, Ronald Belisario, Zach Putnam and Jake Petricka in the ninth inning.

As for the bullpen as a whole last year, the White Sox had five rookies who each made 28 or more appearances.

Now that Hahn has added an established closer in David Robertson and veteran relievers in Zach Duke and Dan Jennings, the bullpen should be in much better shape.

Petricka and Putnam also should be better pitching in middle relief.

"They were forced to grow," pitching coach Don Cooper said. "When we don't know who's pitching the ninth, and when we have injuries to Lindstrom, to Jones, the bad news is that didn't work out and there were some injuries. The good news is other guys get opportunities for that and both those guys I think handled their opportunities as well as we would have hoped to where now, hey, we can expect a little bit from them.

"When I think of Putnam and Petricka, they did really good last year. Let's back that up with another real good year and as far as I'm concerned as a coach, you're ready to have the career you dreamed about."

Cooper is back for his 13th season with the White Sox, and bench coach Mark Parent, third-base coach Joe McEwing, hitting coach Todd Steverson, assistant hitting coach Harold Baines and bullpen coach Bobby Thigpen also return.

Vince Coleman is the lone new face as the White Sox' baserunning coach. He also will work with Sox minor-leaguers. Coleman ranks sixth in major-league history with 752 stolen bases.

The White Sox ranked 19th in the American League last season with 85 steals and were caught 36 times, a 70 percent success rate.

"He's going to work at the big-league level and also spend some time in the minors," Hahn said of Coleman.

"Early in the off-season we identified wanting to have someone with some basestealing acumen, and obviously tremendous credentials like Vince has as a means to augment our coaching staff and help draw out a little more from certain players."

sgregor@dailyherald.com

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