Rest of pen solid, but is Colome coming back as White Sox closer?

There were so many news faces in the White Sox's bullpen this season, many of them impressive.

At the back end, Alex Colome was a familiar face, and he again was one of the most reliable closers in baseball.

"Colome has been as good as they come in the back end," Sox relief pitcher Aaron Bummer said. "To me, that's kind of a proven commodity. If we get to the ninth (inning) with the lead, we believe we're going to win that game every single time."

In his second full season with the White Sox, Colome was second among American League relievers with a 0.81 ERA and tied for third with 12 saves.

The 31-year-old righty has converted 42 of 46 save opportunities since joining the Sox in a trade that sent catcher Omar Narvaez to Seattle on Nov. 30, 2018.

"I love watching him do his thing," rookie Codi Heuer said. "He's been doing it for a while now. He's our horse, the caballo."

The Sox hope this year's playoff appearance extends to 2021 and beyond, so having a proven commodity like Colome in such a key role is important.

Are the White Sox willing to pay up and bring him back? Colome is a free agent, and even in these uncertain financial times due to COVID-19, he'll be looking to cash in after entering this season with a $10.5 million contract.

If the Sox decline to bring Colome back, would they turn to flame-throwing lefty Garrett Crochet in the ninth inning?

Projected to be a starting pitcher after being selected by the Sox with the No. 11 overall pick in the June draft, Crochet joined the bullpen in September and was brilliant while pitching 6 scoreless innings to go with 8 strikeouts and no walks.

Crochet struck out both Oakland hitters he faced in Game 3 of the playoffs before exiting with a strained flexor muscle in his forearm.

Expected to be fine after rest, Crochet will be worth watching when spring training opens.

"I don't have an answer in terms of what the plan is just yet, but we'll figure that out over the winter coming into next spring," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. "In terms of upside, we view him as an impactful starter but we certainly can't ignore what he looked like when he was coming out of the bullpen, either."

The rest of the Sox's bullpen looks solid.

There is a good mix of proven arms like Aaron Bummer, Evan Marshall and Jace Fry and rising young relievers like Heuer and Matt Foster.

Heuer was 3-0 with a 1.52 ERA in 21 appearances as a rookie and Foster was 6-1 with a 2.20 ERA over 23 games in his first season with the White Sox.

"It's been great," Foster said. "We all kind of click together and we definitely feed off each other and pick each other's brains. Especially us younger guys, we kind of talk to the veteran guys about what to do in certain situations. They're very good at pointing us in the right direction and leading us and setting a very good example."