After trading away a plethora of relievers last season, it was no secret that bullpen help was going to be a top priority for the White Sox heading into 2018. A recent move saw Rick Hahn bring in two relievers- one righty and one lefty- to help strengthen the bullpen. Add in the trade with the Seattle Mariners that brought over flamethrower Thyago Vieira, and a healthy Nate Jones, and suddenly the White Sox have built up their bullpen to be at least respectable heading into 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zySAOFP7z8k
If the season started today, the bullpen would look something like this:
Nate Jones- RHP
Juan Minaya- RHP
Danny Farquar- RHP
Luis Avilan- LHP
Gregory Infante- RHP
Aaron Bummer- LHP
Jace Fry- LHP
Joakim Soria- Closer RHP
If Nate Jones is in fact fully healthy, then the bullpen receives a huge boost. Vieira is left off the list because his control still needs work and he might not break camp with the White Sox. The intriguing thing abut this bullpen is that there is really no clear cut closer. Soria is the best bet at this point but either Nate Jones or Vieira could wind up in the closing role as well.
Avilan is the second player (Soria being the other) that came to the White Sox in the three team trade with Kansas City and the Dodgers. He is considered to be a lefty specialist, and should be great when it comes to getting situational outs late in games.
All in all, no name on this list is going to blow anyone away. But then again, no one thought anything of Anthony Swarzak and Tommy Kahnle last year either, and look what happened with them.
If the White Sox really do want to surprise people and compete for a wild card berth in 2018, the bullpen is going to have to step up and show that it can produce when needed most.
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