White Sox closer Liam Hendriks was unhappy with his breaking ball command for much of the first half. He’ll remember the Field of Dreams game for the pitch-tipping issues he says “cost me a lot” in August. He gave up the most home runs he’s allowed (11) since he was a starting pitcher, back before he became really good. He brought this all up on a video call Thursday morning to mark his second consecutive American League Reliever of the Year Award.
Advertisem*nt
His point can be strategically angled toward Craig Kimbrel, who struggled in the two months after he was acquired by the White Sox and seems destined to be dealt in the offseason. But overall Kimbrel finished with a season line (2.26 ERA, 42.6 percent strikeout rate in 59 2/3 innings) that is comparable to what Hendriks accomplished (2.54 ERA, 42.3 percent strikeout rate in 71 innings).
“This (award) means a lot just purely based on the fact it’s over the course of a full season where you go through the ups and downs and you battle back,” Hendriks said. “It’s tough because the struggles are overblown and the fact that over the course of this full season (Kimbrel) still had fantastic numbers across the board. But we only think about what he did when he came over here which is unreasonable to him because of how good his first half was. It’s how normal seasons go. You have your ups and downs; you bounce back.”
Hendriks’ plea for the Sox to retain Kimbrel is likely ill-fated. But the type of credentials the well-traveled reliever was supposed to offer is what Hendriks is hoping will still be prioritized.
“I think we had the talent on our team to be a world championship team last year,” Hendriks said. “The only thing we were lacking was experience. That is something that is invaluable. Not trying to say what (the White Sox front office should) do, but if they are able to add some experience, some guys who have been around other than Lance (Lynn) and Dallas (Keuchel), and Craig and guys like that, and bring guys in that have been to the playoffs multiple years, that have won championships, that have been through the ins and outs of the heartbreak of losing, or the joy of winning. I think that’s something that can only add to this team’s dynamic.”
There should be many opportunities to address it.
Advertisem*nt
Despite being an area of heavy investment over the last calendar year, the White Sox bullpen hierarchy below Hendriks and Aaron Bummer is currently filled with turnover. Kimbrel looks to be headed out, Michael Kopech is filling rotation needs and Ryan Tepera is a free agent (as is a still-rehabbing Jimmy Cordero after undergoing Tommy John surgery in March). Evan Marshall will undergo the same surgery this month and will not pitch in 2022.
Just this past March, Codi Heuer and Matt Foster were up-and-coming right-handers that flashed potential for both multi-inning and high-leverage work for years to come. Now Heuer is with the Cubs after the Kimbrel trade, and Foster struggled through a rough sophom*ore season and has dropped below José Ruiz in the reliever hierarchy. Hendriks is in Arizona this weekend for reliever Ryan Burr’s wedding, and they only figure to get more acquainted in the bullpen next season. The 36 2/3 innings (and 2.45 ERA) Burr provided this season was the most meaningful contribution the Sox received from any in-season graduate of the Triple-A bullpen, even if strikeout-to-walk numbers suggest more gains need to be made to repeat the feat next year.
“I think there’s a few guys on our team internally that can really step up,” Hendriks said. “I think they showed flashes of it last year, and being able to show flashes during the course of last year, it’s only going to improve this year. There’s definitely moves you can make internally, moving guys into certain roles and seeing how it goes. There’s different moves you can make by bringing veteran guys in or bringing a veteran guy in to be in a different role but he’s going to help elevate those younger guys to a certain mentality to get them into the right spot.”
Reynaldo López was the other significant second-half contributor who emerged from Charlotte, although he provided more as starter depth and likely is needed on that front again unless the Sox add a superior starting pitching option. All that gets us to the point of Garrett Crochet’s next step in developing into a starter, colliding with the reality that even if he remains in the bullpen, the White Sox have half of the six pitchers Tony La Russa trusted in medium- to high-leverage down the stretch last season.
“There is a path that would have him starting in the minors for a certain amount of time and then maybe potentially joining the bullpen at some point later in the year — that’s just one (hypothetical),” said general manager Rick Hahn. “Obviously we had Kopech probably deeper into his professional development entering the ’21 season than Crochet was, but we were able to find a way to use him in the bullpen but still get him the occasional start, get him stretched out some and put him in a decent position entering this season to be in the rotation. So it’s possible that’s what we do with Garrett.”
Advertisem*nt
The missing piece last season, prompting such an aggressive push for bullpen additions at the deadline, is the lack of higher-level minor leaguers graduating toward meaningful contributions in the majors. It’s an understandable byproduct of the missing minor-league season building a gap between lower-level prospects and everyone who got prioritized at the alternate site in 2020. Assistant general manager Chris Getz listed out left-hander (and Rule 5-eligible) Hunter Schryver, and right-handers Caleb Freeman, Lane Ramsey, McKinley Moore, and a recovering Tyler Johnson as minor-league relief arms with the chance to make the jump in 2022. Both Moore and Freeman are getting tested in the Arizona Fall League, where Freeman is backing up the perception that he is the brightest light of this group by allowing a single run in nine innings.
“The key to success at the major-league level is doing it on a regular basis, and that’s what we’re working on,” said Getz. “Sometimes that’s a mechanical issue, sometimes it’s a confidence issue. But really, you can’t make any of those adjustments mechanically or gain confidence without playing against good competition. And that’s what they’re being exposed to right now. And we’ve seen positive indicators that we’re on the right track and the chances are they can help us pretty soon.”
A significant talent injection from the system is needed, since there are too many needs on the diamond at second base and right field — where the Sox have traditionally been reticent to shop at the top of the market — to divert too many resources to a full-scale rebuild of the bullpen. Hendriks cited defensive improvements as equally critical for next year alongside having the experience to read and counter patterns of attack the way the Astros did in the ALDS. But the bullpen will need some sort of help from the outside, even if a little can go a long way.
“It’s a very fine line between even being a medium-leverage reliever to being a solid high-leverage reliever,” Hendriks said. “It could be the course of just a little bit of a confidence boost here and there by a manager. It could be a confidence boost of hey, you’ve got this high leverage, you did well, and now we’re going to stick with you and run with you, and all of a sudden that just fits your personality better as well.”
(Photo: Ron Vesely / Getty Images)
