McKnight: Bullpen struggles started White Sox's downward spiral
When the White Sox were heading back home after an understandably tough road trip to play the Rangers and Yankees (2-4 over the 6-game trip) they were 10 games over the break-even mark. They held a five game lead on the AL Central. Chris Sale and Jose Quintana were pitching as if they had bet their years' salary on which one would start the All Star Game in July.
The bullpen, which was the best in baseball by ERA through April and March (1.69) and second-best in WAR (tied with Oakland at 1.5), had hiccupped. Giving up an 11-5 lead on May 10th counts as a hiccup. There'd been a rain delay over an hour. The Rangers bats were hot. The Sox had pitched so well out of the pen. It was a hiccup that brings something solid with it, perhaps, but one teams get over.
Eventually. They haven't yet.
Don't get me wrong. It's not causal relationship. It's not as easy as saying "because the bullpen blew one in Texas they can't and won't pitch well again." This game knows no names and regression comes for all. The White Sox pen, collectively, has a .2 WAR through May - tied for 18th - and an ERA of 4.05 is 21st.
Measuring the White Sox bullpen performance against the rest of the league only goes so far in explaining an issue. After all, it's not rotisserie baseball. Teams don't get points based on being less bad than others. The only team to beat is the one across from you on that particular day.
For the first two weeks of May, just before the White Sox came home, the offense was clicking as well as it had all season. Over the first 13 games of the month, they'd put up 5.6 runs per game.
That's enough to win.
The Sox went 7-6 over that stretch. Bullpen woes combined with a few rough starts from Carlos Rodon, Mat Latos, Erik Johnson and one tough luck, six-inning, two-run Jose Quintana outing.
Such is baseball.
What the Sox need is for their relievers to win matchups. Zach Duke didn't get Eric Hosmer out on Friday night. Hosmer is bad against lefties. Duke is a lefty who gets lefties out pretty well. Instead, Duke dropped in a slider, low and out of the zone. Hosmer dropped the bat head on it and flung one over Jimmy Rollins to give the Royals the lead.
White Sox GM Rick Hahn told everyone listening that he's willing to move. He wants to make a deal and he's ready to do it now. Then, he had a team sitting on top of the division with the ability to add. At the time, Miguel Gonzalez had yet to settle in as the fifth starter and Latos had gone through a rough stretch. Questions about adding a rotation arm or a left-handed bat were the order of the day. Quietly, almost offhandedly, Hahn was asked about getting a high leverage bullpen arm.
Hahn seemed to like the idea. It'd do two things: Give Ventura another option in rough situations and shorten the ballgame for the rotation. Plus, it likely won't come at the same expense as a mid-rotation starter.
The question now is how soon other teams will be ready to deal. The White Sox still have a Division to go get.
Connor McKnight can be heard on the White Sox Pre and Post Game show on WLS AM 890 and the White Sox Radio Network.
• Connor McKnight is the pregame and postgame host for Chicago White Sox games on WLS 890-AM. He also can be heard on sports reports for WKQX, WLUP and WLS-FM. Follow him on Twitter @C1McKnight.