For the first time in a few years, the White Sox have not spent a significant amount of money on the bullpen. At this point, the most expensive player in the bullpen, assuming Michael Kopech will be in the rotation, is newly signed reliever, Tim Hill with a salary of 1.8 million. This is a refreshing change, as you can still have a successful bullpen without having a significant amount of payroll dedicated to it.
The Sox will boast a mainly inexperienced bullpen, which is not necessarily a bad thing. At this point, this next year should be dedicated to figuring out what players can fit in when they are competitive. They have a few arms with a bunch of upside, as well as a few arms that are question marks. Here we can dive into the roles for the players that likely slot into the eight man bullpen.
High Leverage
At this point, there are only about two to three guys on this roster that have shown that they are very good relievers in the MLB. This being Gregory Santos and Garrett Crochet, but even at this point, Santos has only played one full year and Crochet has been injured. Regardless, with the other talent in the bullpen, they will leaned on to pitch in high leverage situations, as they are the two most talented pitchers the White Sox have in the 'pen.
Santos will likely be the closer, as he took over towards the end of the season. He did okay as the closer, but I would definitely like to see more consistency out of him in terms of locking games down. He has the talent to be an elite reliever in the MLB, but this year we will find out if he has the ability to close games, which not many pitchers have.
With Crochet's injury history, he is likely to be stationed in the 'pen once again. I would personally like to see him get stretched out to be a starter, but I'm not sure if that is how the White Sox view him anymore. If they see him as a long term reliever, they should make sure this is the year he is put in plenty of high leverage opportunities to give him the experience when it is needed the most.
Tim Hill is likely to see some high leverage situations, as Jeff Passan noted that he will see plenty of higher-leverage opportunities when he announced the signing with the White Sox. This makes a lot of sense, as he has some of the highest service time in the MLB, but he wasn't great last year. Hopefully he turns it around this year, as he has had some good years in the past. He is a funky throwing lefty that gets a lot of ground balls so his ERA definitely will fluctuate from year to year. With the improved infield defense, he could be a very valuable piece this year.
Filling Out The Rest- Big Question Marks
At this point the White Sox have a bunch of options on how they could fill out the rest of the bullpen. Assuming Crochet, Santos, and Hill are all on the roster on opening day, there will be five more spots to fill, as a team can only carry 13 pitchers.
The Sox have 12 pitchers on the 40-man that could be considered for the last five spots in the bullpen. This does not include Jordan Leasure, who is not on the 40-man, but is likely to be competing for a spot in the 'pen out of Spring Training.
The remaining pitchers are: Tanner Banks, Josimar Cousin, Shane Drohan, Matt Foster, Deivi Garcia, Jimmy Lambert, Davis Martin, Sammy Peralta, Touki Toussiant, Jesse Scholtens, and Alex Speas.
The Sox just added Cousin to the 40-man, but he has not performed well to this point in his minor league career, so it is likely he starts in the upper minors. Davis Martin will likely miss the beginning of the season as he ramps up from surgery. This leaves about 10 names to fill out the last five.
Shane Drohan was selected as a rule-5 draft pick, so he has to spend the whole year on the active roster, or he will be returned to Boston. He likely makes it due to that fact, and could be a long reliever and potentiality make some starts.
Touki Toussiant pitched well enough last year to make it on as either one of the last rotation spots, or as a long reliever. He is a nice piece to have, as he is comfortable making starts and coming out of the 'pen. I would imagine he makes it due to that fact. The same can be said about Jesse Scholtens, as he pitched well last year down the stretch. He could be in the rotation depending on how that shakes out, but he could also fit in the 'pen. It might be one or the other in this case, as they need more true relievers, but depending what happens with the rotation, you could see both a lot in 2024.
At this point that leaves a few spots for the remaining guys. I would really like to see Deivi Garcia get a long look, as he was a top prospect with the Yankees and has had success in small major league stints thus far. He would fit as a middle inning guy if the makes the 'pen.
The last middle relief spot would likely be the toughest battle, as Banks and Peralta have the leg up, as they are lefties, but both haven't had much MLB success. I think Matt Foster could win this battle, as he has had the best MLB season out of any of the guys.
It says a lot that there are no clear eight guys for the bullpen, as there could be any combination of these players. This means that at this point there is just a lot of okay talent, but it helps with injuries as they have a decent amount of depth for the first time in a long time.
The way the rotation shapes out will likely determine how the bullpen looks. This will be an interesting season and I think everyone should get a look at some point.
