FanPost

White Sox Bullpen Woes Main Culprit of May Slide

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I knew April was too good to be true, but what exactly happened to the Chicago White Sox pitching in May? I mean the fuck? The White Sox capped off the month of May with a tremendous fall from grace and three late game meltdowns that will be on par with some of sports biggest tire fires. But how did the White Sox go from being one of the surprise success stories of the first month of the season to a team that could barely sustain even a seven run lead in the ninth inning? The main culprit and most fingers are being pointed at the team’s bullpen.

The White Sox bullpen during the April was lights out. Other teams in the league were seemed to be fearful of the overachieving arms the team had in its bullpen. The team’s bullpen ERA was a staggering 1.69 during the first 71 games of the season, only giving up an impressive 47 hits and 22 walks. No other team in the league came close to having a sub two ERA during that timespan, according to FanGraphs. The success and stress relief for White Sox starters can be attributed to the powerful setup men the team has amassed. Zach Duke, Nate Jones and Matt Albers - who himself did not give up a run in 11.2 innings pitched in April - were the bridge to help to help close the gap for the starters and allowed for closer David Robertson to shut it down. The team’s first month bullpen performance gave fans a vote a confidence after 2015 ‘s revolving door of relievers on the South Side. It seemed as if the team had a major threat that would allow them to contend with a mediocre AL Central in 2016. But something happened when the calendar flipped over to May and the White Sox bullpen got the worst case of the yips since Brad Lidge was shell-shocked by Albert Pujols.

There was always the notion that the team was never going to keep up their impeccable April performance. Even Hawk Harrelson, the team’s biggest homer would have to admit there would a bit of a drop off. But my, my what a drop off the team saw. The team’s bullpen ERA ballooned to 4.72 in May, giving up 71 hits in 71.2 innings. And let us not forget about the embarrassing series sweep by the Kansas City Royals, which seemed to flawlessly describe the team’s May bullpen misfortunes. Robertson seemed to forget how to close out games as his ERA swelled to 6.38 for the month, and Jones seemed to forget how to locate pitches, allowing three runs on three hits during the May 29 series finale against the Royals, starting once again another epic comeback by the Royals.

Harrelson wants to keep blaming the White Sox performance on an uneven schedule, but that is a lazy excuse. Granted they had some tough opponents in the Royals, Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers, but they also played against the Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees. After starting the season 17-8, they Pales Holes lost their five game first place lead by going 11-17 in May. Quite a fall from grace.

While the bullpen was a common scapegoat for the teams’ dreary May output, you started to see a few other glaring problems. Jose Abreu seemed to lose his confidence and forgot how to hit, Mat Latos has reverted back to his old self after a few promising starts, and some of the team’s main defensive upgrades - Jimmy Rollins, Austin Jackson, Dioner Navarro and Alex Avila - ranked as some of the worst players at their prospective positions. Every hot take on Twitter want’s to be quick to call for manager Robin Ventura’s head, but those loud naysayers never seem to think about the repercussions firing a manager so early in the season will do. The team is still a few games out of first place and firing Ventura so early will only put a damper on the clubhouse. Maybe not Drake LaRoche-level outcry, but still an issue that could negatively affect the team.

It’s a fascinating conundrum the team is in. On one hand, Ventura is making some questionable in-game decisions, but a number of players are underperforming. Chris Sale, who is quick to defend the team in most cases, said after the May 29 loss that Ventura is working his ass off.

"I don't think he gave up any runs," Sale said. "I don't think he made any errors, and he's in the dugout the whole time. It's on us to win games. I understand people -- I'll keep it that – want to point fingers and find blame. But at the end of the day, it falls on the players. We have to find a way to turn it around. We're going to keep fighting. It will turn. We have too much morale, chemistry and too much talent. Just a rough patch."

Sales makes a valid point about morale as everyone on the team is taking blame for the poor play and generally seemed bummed out that they are doing so bad. It’d be one thing if the players gave a general statement about the poor play, but you can see on their faces and hear in their sound bites that these loses are affecting them. A worse team would be content to throw in the towel this early, but this White Sox team doesn’t seem to be taking these loses lightly.

Luckily for the White Sox all is not lost on the team just yet. The AL Central poses no dominant team - although he Royals are making a hell of case - and Adam Eaton, Jose Quintana and Sales' individual performances are giving good cause that the team’s 2016 season is not yet lost. But the team needs to be hot in the arm now, before the dog days of summer hit. A trade may be coming soon, but it may be up to the underachieving squad to take the reins for the rest of the season.

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