The New and Improved White Sox Bullpen

It’s time for our Depth Chart Discussions to begin. In an effort to suss out every team, we’ve divided them into four parts (infield, outfield, bullpen, and rotation) and will begin breaking them down for you over the next few weeks. You can find them gathered here.

The Closer

David Robertson

The Chicago White Sox shored up their ninth-inning by signing free-agent David Robertson away from the New York Yankees on a four-year deal worth $46 million. The right-hander is on the heels of a career-best 39-save season with a 3.08 ERA (2.68 FIP) and a 1.06 WHIP in 63 appearances (64.1 IP), but his success extends beyond just last season. Since 2011, Robertson is among the top-ten among qualified relievers in ERA (2.20), K/9 (12.35) and fourth in WAR (7.6) behind only Craig Kimbrel, Greg Holland and Aroldis Chapman despite securing just 45 saves over that span.

Robertson isn’t exactly headed to a pitcher’s park, but the move to U.S. Cellular Field should allow Robertson to surrender fewer homers than he did in Yankee Stadium (7 HR, 15.6% HR/FB% in ‘14). Additionally, Robertson’s ability to stay healthy and make 60 or more appearances in each of the past five seasons should be taken into consideration and make him a potential top five reliever on draft/auction day.

The Setup Men

Zach Duke
Zach Putnam
Jake Petricka

In order to get the ball to David Robertson in the final frame, the White Sox will likely go with a combination of Jake Petricka, Zach Putnam and Zach Duke. Both right-handers received high-leverage ninth-inning opportunities last season — Petricka went 14-of-18 and Putnam 6-of-7 in save chances — but neither of the two really have the strikeout potential fantasy owners are looking for out of their middle reliever slots. Holds league owners should be paying attention to both Petricka and Putnam on draft day, but the most interesting hurler outside of David Robertson in this current bullpen could be the newly inked Zach Duke.

Like Robertson, left-hander Zach Duke landed in the Windy City thanks to an offseason deal that netted the reliever $15 million over three-years. The former starter went 5-1 with 12 holds, a 2.45 ERA (2.14 FIP), a 1.13 WHIP and a 24% K-BB% in 74 appearances (58.1 IP) for the Milwaukee Brewers in ‘14. Jeff Sullivan attributes Duke’s recent success as a reliever to an “overhaul of his throwing motion — a lower arm slot to both lefties and righties — and altering his pitches and pitch mixes.”

Of the three, Duke fared best against left-handed batters, holding them to a .258 wOBA while Putnam fared best versus right-handed hitters, holding them to a .216 wOBA. But the difference in Duke’s splits is minimal and his K-BB% is superior to Putnam’s, while both induce ground balls to righties roughly 60% of the time. Duke may be the best arm for the eighth, but Putnam could be in line for some of that work should their opponents load up on right-handed bats that inning. Like most other bullpens, a lot of these wrinkles will iron themselves out in the Spring and their roles will become a bit more clear.

Everyone Else

Javy Guerra
Dan Jennings
Maikel Cleto
Daniel Webb
Nate Jones
Carlos Rodon

The sixth and seventh innings are dependent upon situations. Veteran Javy Guerra and newly acquired southpaw Dan Jennings could fill those roles. Jennings spent his entire career in the Marlins’ system — the bulk of which came on the farm — making just 116 appearances (100 IP) out of the pen with a 2.43 ERA (3.57 FIP). Old friend Javy Guerra went 2-4, 1-of-6 in save chances and racked up seven holds with a 2.91 ERA (3.95) in 42 games last season. Maikel Cleto is out of options at this point, so there’s a chance he could be the long-man out of the White Sox bullpen provided he breaks camp with the team. Daniel Webb struggled mightily in ‘14 and could be battling Cleto for a bullpen spot in training camp. Nate Jones is recovering from Tommy John surgery and is expected to return around July provided his rehab progresses as planned. Carlos Rodon could be the “wildcard” of this group. While he’s projected to be a starter, Rodon could find himself getting a taste of league out of the Sox bullpen until the team is in need of a fifth starter. This too should work itself out in the Spring.