Sox Bullpen Showdown! White Sox Relievers Engage in Fierce Competition for Innings

You might thinking that just about every area of the White Sox roster should be a competition following the worst season in MLB history, which would be a fair thought.

But when assessing the roster in Chicago more than halfway into spring training, the rotation appears to only have one spot that is truly there for the taking while the lineup has a few.

The area of this roster that is entirely there for the taking is the bullpen. Manager Will Venable has been adamant this week that roles will be fluid and most spots are far from secured.

“There’s potential for our best reliever to pitch the seventh or eighth inning depending on how a game unfolds. We’re gonna lean on all these guys to get outs and however their roles organically formulate during the year, so be it,” said Venable.

Heading into camp, the favorite to finish games was probably Prelander Berroa, who’s coming off a September in which he broke out to the tune of a 1.80 ERA with 18 strikeouts across 15 innings for Chicago.

Unfortunately, Berroa is set to undergo Tommy John surgery this week after being pulled with an arm injury earlier in the spring. The White Sox appear ready to let things play out at their own pace with this bullpen group in the early months of the season.

An Endless Number of Possibilities in the Bullpen

Mike Clevinger is shifting into a bullpen role as he builds up and has been mentioned as a back-end option, but he is far from a lock to be ready for Opening Day or be effective enough to make the team out of camp.

“I don’t think really at any point we’ll be declaring a closer,” said Venable.

Without a clear candidate, several various arms could get the chance to pitch in high-leverage situations for the White Sox this season.

First and foremost, they have to figure out the eight pitchers who will even be in the bullpen. Only a few spots seem to be secured, while there are more than 10 pitchers in the mix for the remaining handful of spots.

The White Sox traded for Cam Booser this offseason after he posted a 3.38 ERA in his first big league season with Boston last year. His journey is a unique one given he was out of affiliated ball for years before signing with Arizona in 2022 and making his MLB debut last year.

He should make the team given his success at the big league level last season and relative experience compared to most of the young arms competing for a spot.

Booser is embracing his experience and enjoying watching not only the talent, but the work ethic of the young pitching core.

“It’s cool to see some of the 20 and 21-year-olds have better routines than some of us older guys. How dialed they are to their mechanics, the work they’re doing, their lifts, their conditioning,” said Booser.

Following the trade, Booser said that he has adjusted his fastball a bit to try and utilize different quadrants of the zone with it. His arsenal of fastball, cutter, and sweeper remains unchanged, but the velocity on all his offerings is up a tick or two from last season.

Gus Varland emerged last season in this bullpen after being claimed on waivers by the White Sox. Between the Dodgers and White Sox, Varland pitched to a 3.42 ERA with 27 strikeouts across 26.1 MLB innings. Along with Booser, he’s one of the few that should have a spot to open the year.

Varland is open to pitching in any role that he may be asked of this season for the White Sox. His focus is turning in a good outing every time his name is called upon.

Like many in the Chicago clubhouse, he added a kick changeup that Davis Martin helped him learn to throw this offseason.

“My fastball rides well. A changeup for me was always really hard to control because it always kept going up and to the right. But with the kick changeup, it forces me to get on top of it and get it down,” said Varland on what makes that pitch valuable.

This adjustment was evident from the singular tracked changeup Varland threw on March 1. It featured -1 inches of induced vertical break compared to his average of +9 inches from last season.

I’ll have a full piece on that unique pitch becoming a trend in the White Sox organization coming soon.

Varland’s new pitch added in alongside his fastball and slider should enable him to be a quality arm out of the bullpen this season. He has looked the part so far this spring.

Another standout on the mound so far this spring has been sidearmer Penn Murfee. He was quietly a great bullpen piece for Seattle in his first season and a half in the bigs in 2022 and 2023 prior to undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Murfee has bounced around teams during his road back to pitching, but the White Sox may have found good value in a November waiver claim. Through four spring training games, Murfee has allowed just one base runner while striking out eight.

He’s enjoying the atmosphere in camp this spring, trying to pick things up from veterans and young pitchers alike.

Murfee noted playing catch recently with Hagen Smith — someone he was able to pick up a catch pattern he tested out himself.

 

With only two years of MLB experience, Murfee is still someone with confidence in his ability. He trusts his stuff, as clearly seen by this quote.

That trio of “veterans” all made it clear they aren’t really veterans just yet, but they should be key pieces of this bullpen. As the battle for the fifth starter spot continues with the rotation taking form, either Shane Smith or Bryse Wilson will head to the bullpen.

Whoever does not claim the fifth spot in the rotation, which is trending towards Wilson, should be the bulk option out of the bullpen.

After churning a bunch of innings last season for the White Sox, Justin Anderson agreed to a deal in his first year of arbitration, which likely puts him in the bullpen to start the year. Meanwhile, the White Sox traded a recent draft pick to the Phillies for Tyler Gilbert, seemingly giving him an edge over a spot on the roster.

There are tons of names, whether it be young players on the roster or non-roster invitees, who could fill out this bullpen.

A Plethora of Young Arms Ready to Contribute

Fraser Ellard turned in a quality rookie campaign upon being called up right around the trade deadline a season ago, while Jordan Leasure entered camp with ample buzz last year but dealt with an injury and adjustments to the league.

Both are two of more interesting and young options in this group, but they will have to beat out a variety of veterans. Leasure is someone with back-end of the bullpen upside, and he has worked on adding a splitter this winter to enhance his primary fastball and slider combination.

Brandon Eisert was a waiver claim from the Rays, Jared Shuster is an option who pitched for the team last year, and Owen White was recently claimed off waivers from the Rangers.

Veterans like James Karinchak, Justin Dunn, Jonathan Heasley, and others were brought to camp on MiLB deals. They’ll all be in contention for the last couple of spots as well.

Many pitchers will likely have a spot at one point or another this season in this bullpen that could be ever-changing. With that comes the upside of a few guys potentially being tradable at the deadline, which would be a win for this team.

If a few of the younger arms emerge as building blocks, then even better.