The White Sox have traded a majority of their bullpen away and have gotten some bad news on their star closer Liam Hendriks. This leaves the White Sox with no experienced closer options on the roster, but is there a player waiting in the wings for the opportunity to become their closer of the future?
How Much Has It Hurt The Sox?
So far not having an established closer this year has definitely hurt the White Sox. It seems that countless games have been blown in the later innings, but would Liam Hendriks have changed those outcomes? Yasmani Grandal seems to think so.
Now, I don’t believe that this is true, but it really says a lot about how Liam is viewed from a player standpoint, as they have full confidence that he is going to come into a game and get the save.
But Yasmani Grandal does have a point, as the White Sox are an abysmal 23/48 in saves vs save opportunities. If they ever want to compete again, they need to make sure that those numbers are not repeated.
Now, Hendriks would not have altered the season for the Sox that much, but he would have won them plenty of games by coming in and shutting the door, potentially leading them to a record in which they are buyers at the deadline, but regardless, it doesn’t change much.
The Sox have to live with the reality that Hendriks will not pitch for them for a while, if ever again, which is very sad to see as a Sox fan. But, is the closer of the future already on the White Sox roster? Some people think so, and it would be huge for the payroll if that is the fact.
Is Gregory Santos The Future?
The only player that could be the future closer on this roster currently is Gregory Santos, and he has been absolutely dominant this year. The trade of Kade McClure for Gregory Santos might go down as one of Rick Hahn’s best moves ever. But, Santos has majorily worked as more of a setup guy. Can he handle being the closer?
To this point in the season, Santos is 2-1 with a 3 ERA in 57 innings. He has 57 strikeouts in those 57 innings so he has a perfect 9 strikeouts per game. But more importantly, he is 4 of 6 in save opportunities, with one of the blown opportunities coming yesterday against the Cubs, just one day after a dominating 5-out save.
Santos definitely has the stuff to be closer at the highest level, but the one thing I have noticed is he struggles in longer outings and pitching in days after those long outings. Once he works on being able to pitch into that second inning and then a back-to-back, he will easily be an elite closer.
If the Sox had any other top-notch pitchers in the ‘pen, they would have likely closed Wednesday’s game out, as Santos had pitched 1 and 2/3rds innings the day before. Typically a player would get some rest, especially if they aren’t used to it.
I believe the Sox have found their closer and Santos will be a force for years to come, he just needs a little refinement in the position, and this is the perfect year to work out the jitters of closing.
