One of the biggest battles in Spring Training has been the last few spots in the bullpen, as the White Sox traded away a good portion of receivers at the trade deadline last summer.
Chris Getz added a few relievers in free agency, like Tim Hill and John Brebbia who figure to both open the season with the club, but he also brought some potential bullpen arms in via trade and signed a bunch of non-roster arms to compete for the last few spots.
But, one surprising name is going to be joining them in the ‘pen, as it was announced today that Michael Kopech will be starting the season in the bullpen.
This is a bit surprising considering the turnover in the rotation. I think the White Sox were very interested in seeing Kopech step up this year and be a force in the rotation. Unfortunately, this Spring has not gone Kopech’s way, as he has struggled to a 7.71 ERA in 7 innings thus far. He has walked 6 batters and hit 2 in that timeframe, showing his lack of control from last year has continued into the spring.
Now, he could look to be the closer, as there is uncertainty around that role due to the trade of Gregory Santos. Ethan Katz sure thinks he has an opportunity to take over that role.
Besides Kopech, we can assume that Brebbia and Hill are in ‘pen as well. That leaves five spots up for grabs. You can assume that Crochet starts in the bullpen, leaving four more spots wide open.
The White Sox have already sent down Alex Speas and Bailey Horn, so those are two options that won’t make it on the roster on Opening Day. Shane Drohan might miss a large part, if not all of the season, leaving him out of the Opening Day roster as well. Prelander Berrora is dealing with an arm injury, so his status is in question too.
This leaves a clearer picture on who could break camp with the team. Jordan Leasure is a likely choice due to his prospect status and the way he has performed this spring. The same can be said about Deivi Garcia, as he too has looked fantastic thus far.
With the Dylan Cease trade brought Steven Wilson, and he is as accomplished as anyone else in the race for the ‘pen, so he will likely take one of the last spots. I think that the last spot goes to Tanner Banks, as he is a lefty and has the capability to pitch more than one inning.
This would be a bullpen of: Michael Kopech, Garrett Crochet, John Brebbia, Tim Hill, Jordan Leasure, Deivi Garcia, Steven Wilson, and Tanner Banks. This is not a horrible ‘pen but there is still a long way to go before it is 100% set in stone.
The way the rotation shapes out will likely have an impact on the bullpen, but that is yet to be finalized, as there are still a lot of players in the running for the rotation.
This should be an interesting last few weeks of Spring Training, as I am sure that there will be plenty of surprise moves for the White Sox before Opening day.
