One of the more pleasing things for me this spring has been the general lack of concern I've seen, both from the media and from the fans, about the closers situation in Chicago. Typically when a team expecting to contend has a uncertainty at the closers position, the media is up in arms. People debate whether or not someone has good enough stuff for it - whether a pitcher who's had success in a 8th inning role can really handle the pressure of having the game on the line. You know, because the inning guys never have the game on the line.
Showing posts with label Matt Thornton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Matt Thornton. Show all posts
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
White Sox Extend Matt Thornton
Having lost former closer Bobby Jenks via free agency, and setup men J.J. Putz and Scott Linebrink via free agency and trade respectively, the Sox made a move to retain one of their own by resigning left handed Matt Thornton. The team announced today that they had an agreement in place that will keep Thornton in the White Sox black for two more seasons, and possibly a third if his 2014 option is picked up.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Chris Sale And The Implications Of A Four-Man Rotation
Having taken a look at the schedule, Manager Ozzie Guillen has decided that he'll try and go with a four man rotation to open the season. His team has off days on April 4th and April 14th which should allow him to easily keep his four other projected opening day starters on their regular rest cycle. He then plans to fill in the rotation with spot starters as needed. Likely candidates for that role would include long man Tony Pena, or minor leaguers Philip Humber or Lucas Harrell.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Prospect Profile: Gregory Infante
Lost in the disappointing finish to the White Sox 2010 season was the debut of the hard throwing, young right-hander Gregory Infante. Infante is hardly a big-name prospect, but in a season where the White Sox could struggle to find pitching depth in their bullpen behind closer Matt Thornton, Jesse Crain, and Sergio Santos, he could prove to be an integral part of their 2011 plans.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
White Sox Sign Will Ohman And What It Means For Chris Sale
In a move to solidify their bullpen, the White Sox signed left hander Will Ohman to a two-year, four million dollar contract. If the contact is balanced, it would bring my 2011 payroll estimate for the White Sox to 126.25m. I've already expended a lot of words here at Central In Focus extolling poor logic in handing relievers three-year deals - and while this deal is for just two years, it violates the same basic tenets.
In signing Ohman, owner of a career 4.09 ERA to a two year deal, they're gambling that the lefty specialist can not only repeat his success of 2010, but that he can do it in back-to-back seasons. His career track-record suggests it's a possibility, but his 2009 season should give one pause.
OPS allowed vs lefthanders by year:
2010: .636
2009: .889
2008: .571
2007: .718
2006: .535
2005: .593
At just 2m per year, the Ohman deal is unlikely to have any significant effect one way or another. But I do question the necessity of offering two years to a player who is valuable essentially as a lefty specialist in low-leverage situations.
Perhaps more than anything, the Ohman signing throws into doubt what the White Sox plans are for the young Chris Sale. With Ohman in place to take care of lefty-lefty situations in the 6th and 7th innings, and Matt Thornton a known commodity for the late innings, will the White Sox choose to keep Sale in the rotation even if it means keeping him in AAA once Jake Peavy returns? Or will they keep Sale in the bullpen and roll with three lefties?
Good problems to have I suppose.
In signing Ohman, owner of a career 4.09 ERA to a two year deal, they're gambling that the lefty specialist can not only repeat his success of 2010, but that he can do it in back-to-back seasons. His career track-record suggests it's a possibility, but his 2009 season should give one pause.
OPS allowed vs lefthanders by year:
2010: .636
2009: .889
2008: .571
2007: .718
2006: .535
2005: .593
At just 2m per year, the Ohman deal is unlikely to have any significant effect one way or another. But I do question the necessity of offering two years to a player who is valuable essentially as a lefty specialist in low-leverage situations.
Perhaps more than anything, the Ohman signing throws into doubt what the White Sox plans are for the young Chris Sale. With Ohman in place to take care of lefty-lefty situations in the 6th and 7th innings, and Matt Thornton a known commodity for the late innings, will the White Sox choose to keep Sale in the rotation even if it means keeping him in AAA once Jake Peavy returns? Or will they keep Sale in the bullpen and roll with three lefties?
Good problems to have I suppose.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Saying Goodbye To Bobby Jenks
The Angels knew they had something special in the big kid. He threw 100MPH+ and his flashed two solid/plus breaking pitches. Guys like that didn't just grow on trees. But he was also a walking injury and a pain-in-the-ass to deal with it. After four seasons of it, the Angels were done and, following the 2004 season, they unceremoniously designated Bobby Jenks for assignment. Not surprisingly, Kenny Williams was waiting.
After being picked up by the White Sox Jenks quickly made his debut in the Majors the following season at age 24 by pitching in 32 games. He began as a setup man for Dustin Hermansen on a team that would go on to win the World Series, but quickly moved up and by seasons end had recorded the first six saves of his career and by the end of the season was the teams closer. In the playoffs he managed to convery four of his five opportunities and capped a remarkable rookie year by getting the final out of their World Championship season.
Not a bad way to introduce yourself to the hometown fans.
During those early years Jenks fastball was amongst the best in baseball. His rookie year his fastball sat at an average of 97.0MPH and he pumped it up as high as 102 in a game. He paired that with a tight slider and a hard fall-off-the-table curveball at 83-84 that was simply unfair. He used that combination to rank up K rates of 10.74 during his first two seasons while getting groundballs on over half his balls in play. Despite some wildness - he walked 3.8/9IP those first two seasons - the combination of high strikeouts and groundballs was perfect for the closers role and he converted 47 of his 53 opportunities.
Unfortunately in 2008, Jenks would suffer a shoulder injury and he never full recovered. His fastball velocity, which had already begun to decline the previous season was down to 93.8MPH and his curve didn't have the same bite it used to. Jenks began using his slider more and while it may have saved wear-and-tear on his arm, it was never as effective of a pitch as his curveball.
But even through all the arm trouble, the injuries, and his declining raw stuff, Jenks managed to get the job done. That is, until 2010 when he was plagued by nagging pain to his back, his calf, and his forearm (in no particular order). An inflated ERA, some ugly blown saves, and persistently negative commentary from Manager Ozzie Guillen left his closers role in doubt.
What was surprising in all of this is that 2010 may have been his best season in terms of rate stats. His 10.42K/9 was the second best of his career, his 3.30 BB/9 was just a tick above his career average of 2.90, and his 58.3% GB rate was the second best mark of his career as well. Adding on to that, he had recovered some of his lost fastball velocity, checking in at an average of 95mph - the hardest he'd thrown since 2006.
That said, Jenks' stuff simply isn't what it used to be. Particularly his curveball and slider which have each declined.mSadly Jenks' injuries, coupled with his difficulty in closing out games and his approaching final year of arbitration, where he'd have been likely to have earned 9m or more (after earning 7.5m in his second arb. season), spelled the end for Jenks' time in the South Side. On December 2nd the White declined to offer arbitration and Jenks officially became a free agent for the first time in his career.
Who will close out games for the White Sox in 2011 remains to be seen. But one would assume that Matt Thornton would be the presumptive favorite. We'll talk about that more as spring approaches, but for now, we'll bid farewell to Bobby Jenks.
After being picked up by the White Sox Jenks quickly made his debut in the Majors the following season at age 24 by pitching in 32 games. He began as a setup man for Dustin Hermansen on a team that would go on to win the World Series, but quickly moved up and by seasons end had recorded the first six saves of his career and by the end of the season was the teams closer. In the playoffs he managed to convery four of his five opportunities and capped a remarkable rookie year by getting the final out of their World Championship season.
Not a bad way to introduce yourself to the hometown fans.
During those early years Jenks fastball was amongst the best in baseball. His rookie year his fastball sat at an average of 97.0MPH and he pumped it up as high as 102 in a game. He paired that with a tight slider and a hard fall-off-the-table curveball at 83-84 that was simply unfair. He used that combination to rank up K rates of 10.74 during his first two seasons while getting groundballs on over half his balls in play. Despite some wildness - he walked 3.8/9IP those first two seasons - the combination of high strikeouts and groundballs was perfect for the closers role and he converted 47 of his 53 opportunities.
Unfortunately in 2008, Jenks would suffer a shoulder injury and he never full recovered. His fastball velocity, which had already begun to decline the previous season was down to 93.8MPH and his curve didn't have the same bite it used to. Jenks began using his slider more and while it may have saved wear-and-tear on his arm, it was never as effective of a pitch as his curveball.
But even through all the arm trouble, the injuries, and his declining raw stuff, Jenks managed to get the job done. That is, until 2010 when he was plagued by nagging pain to his back, his calf, and his forearm (in no particular order). An inflated ERA, some ugly blown saves, and persistently negative commentary from Manager Ozzie Guillen left his closers role in doubt.
What was surprising in all of this is that 2010 may have been his best season in terms of rate stats. His 10.42K/9 was the second best of his career, his 3.30 BB/9 was just a tick above his career average of 2.90, and his 58.3% GB rate was the second best mark of his career as well. Adding on to that, he had recovered some of his lost fastball velocity, checking in at an average of 95mph - the hardest he'd thrown since 2006.
That said, Jenks' stuff simply isn't what it used to be. Particularly his curveball and slider which have each declined.mSadly Jenks' injuries, coupled with his difficulty in closing out games and his approaching final year of arbitration, where he'd have been likely to have earned 9m or more (after earning 7.5m in his second arb. season), spelled the end for Jenks' time in the South Side. On December 2nd the White declined to offer arbitration and Jenks officially became a free agent for the first time in his career.
Who will close out games for the White Sox in 2011 remains to be seen. But one would assume that Matt Thornton would be the presumptive favorite. We'll talk about that more as spring approaches, but for now, we'll bid farewell to Bobby Jenks.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Hello Sergio Santos
This isn't going to be news to White Sox fans, but to the rest of the world, it certainly should be. Way back in 2002, the Sergio Santos story began as a minor league middle infielder with the Toronto Blue Jays. He had some success as a shortstop, once belting 20 home tuns as a 23 year old in AA. However by 2008 Santos was entering his 7th minor league season and he wasn't hitting at AAA for the Twins after being picked up on waivers.
Then one day he told the Twins relievers there that he could throw 95 off a mound. They laughed. 'Yeah sure, prove it,' they said. They gave him ten pitches to hit 95. On the 3rd, he hit 97. The Twins kept him at shortstop however, and chose not to try to resign him after the season.
In 2009, Santos signed on with the White Sox and made the transition to reliever. Dropping all the way back down to Low-A. From there he steam-rolled the minor leagues, making stops at High-A, AA, and AAA.
Now in 2010, he's made the big club out of spring training. An incredible feat in-and-of-itself, to say nothing of not having pitched professionally until a year ago.
I had the privilage of watching Santos pitch a couple nights ago in a game against the Twins, and wow. The right-handed Santos features three quality pitches, a 95-97 mph fastball with good life, a very sharp 88mph slider that can eat up even quality left-handed hitting, and a circle change that flashes plus.
The last thing the White Sox, a team with abundant pitching talent, needed was another hard-throwing, swing and miss reliever. But this is clearly a case of the rich getting richer. In three innings of work, Santos has struck out four, and allowed zero hits or walks. Eventually, Santos' lack of experience will likely show itself in the form of some bouts of wildness, but for now, the results have all been positive.
With a standout relief corps featuring Scott Linebrink, Matt Thornton, and Bobby Jenks, the White Sox will likely use Santos exclusively in the 7th inning. That group of four reliever will really help augment an already great starting pitching staff and ensure that the White Sox can shorten games, maximizing their limited offensive capabilities.
Then one day he told the Twins relievers there that he could throw 95 off a mound. They laughed. 'Yeah sure, prove it,' they said. They gave him ten pitches to hit 95. On the 3rd, he hit 97. The Twins kept him at shortstop however, and chose not to try to resign him after the season.
In 2009, Santos signed on with the White Sox and made the transition to reliever. Dropping all the way back down to Low-A. From there he steam-rolled the minor leagues, making stops at High-A, AA, and AAA.
Now in 2010, he's made the big club out of spring training. An incredible feat in-and-of-itself, to say nothing of not having pitched professionally until a year ago.
I had the privilage of watching Santos pitch a couple nights ago in a game against the Twins, and wow. The right-handed Santos features three quality pitches, a 95-97 mph fastball with good life, a very sharp 88mph slider that can eat up even quality left-handed hitting, and a circle change that flashes plus.
The last thing the White Sox, a team with abundant pitching talent, needed was another hard-throwing, swing and miss reliever. But this is clearly a case of the rich getting richer. In three innings of work, Santos has struck out four, and allowed zero hits or walks. Eventually, Santos' lack of experience will likely show itself in the form of some bouts of wildness, but for now, the results have all been positive.
With a standout relief corps featuring Scott Linebrink, Matt Thornton, and Bobby Jenks, the White Sox will likely use Santos exclusively in the 7th inning. That group of four reliever will really help augment an already great starting pitching staff and ensure that the White Sox can shorten games, maximizing their limited offensive capabilities.
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