Matt Thornton came into the 2011 season as the closer for the Chicago White Sox. It hasn't gone as planned for him. Thornton is 0-2 and has allowed 10 runs on 11 hits in just 5 appearances for the Sox. He has no saves and 4 blown saves to go along with his 7.71 ERA through just 12 games. Chris Sale has been just as bad as Thornton. He has allowed 6 runs in just 7 appearances. Sale has a 7.36 ERA and has blown 1 save for the Sox. The White Sox bullpen have allowed 21 earned runs in just 12 games and only two other bullpens in the league have a higher ERA than the White Sox bullpen. Thornton and Sale have a combined .367 opponents batting average and they have blown a combined 5 saves. The White Sox have lost 5 games this season...
The White Sox bullpen struggles came to a season high yesterday. The White Sox were leading 4 to 1 after 8 innings when Chris Sale came into the game. He allowed 3 runs on 3 hits and couldn't record one out before being pulled by manager Ozzie Guillen. Matt Thornton came into the game in the 10th inning and also allowed 3 runs on 3 hits. The Sox lost to the A's in 10 innings 7 to 4 and wasted a great 8 innings of pitching from starter John Danks.
Ozzie Guillen was obviously very frustrated with his team's bullpen following their third meltdown in less than a week. He said, "The closer situation: I don't have any closer. I don't have any closer. I don't. We will see. Because from this point on, you're just scratching your head and second-guessing yourself what you're doing wrong, bringing people to the mound with a three-run lead for a third time and we can't hold the lead... When you have a bad bullpen, that's what happens. That's what happens." That's not a good sign... I might call Bobby Thigpen [the former White Sox closer, who had 57 saves in 1990] to help us. I see the same [expletive] you guys see. Exactly the same [expletive]."
Matt Thornton said, "Oh man. There's nothing to even describe it right now. Frustration is pretty high... Confidence isn't the problem. It's my frustration right now. It's the most frustrated I've been in a long time. I can't remember a run of games like this where I haven't gotten the job done that many times in a row." Chris Sale added, "Just location. Leaving balls up and there were too many hittable pitches."
The White Sox may have to turn to their young, 27 year old pitcher Sergio Santos to close games for them. Sergio has pitched 7.2 innings and has been fantastic. Santos has only allowed five hits and he hasn't surrendered a run yet in five appearances. Santos also didn't allow a run in 9.2 innings in Spring Training. "I like where I'm at. With the fastball changeup and slider that I have, I feel confident that if I make my pitch I'm going to get outs. It's not always the case. You can make a great pitch and they get a hit off it and that happens, but I'll take my chances as a pitcher and the way I'm feeling right now." Many White Sox fans hope that Guillen will give the ball to Santos the next time they are leading in the ninth inning and they aren't the only ones. I would really like Santos to become the White Sox closer becuase he is available in my fantasy baseball league and I really need a closer!
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar