It’s been an unfathomably grueling year for the White Sox (52-79), and there’s still a month left. There are few areas where that’s more acutely felt than trying to shepherd a pitching staff full of recent call-ups through 31 more major-league games.
Since trading six pitchers at the trade deadline, Sox pitching has posted a 5.72 ERA in August. Up until Mike Clevinger pitched seven innings of one-run ball in a 6-1 win over the A’s on Sunday, the Sox rotation had the worst ERA in MLB and was averaging less than five innings per start this month. In turn, more work has been heaped upon a bullpen sporting four rookies.
Among the many things that weigh heavily on pitching coach Ethan Katz’s mind, the uptick in usage for Gregory Santos and Aaron Bummer, who often throw multiple innings when any high-leverage situation pops up, is certainly up there. Santos’ two recent blowups came when trying to record saves on back-to-back nights in Wrigley — a night after a five-out save against the Cubs — and trying to lock down a six-out save against a Mariners team that had won eight straight.
He fell short, but it was the type of assignment usually tabbed for elite closers.
“It’s just where we’re at,” Katz said. “It’s a big ask, but it also would be a tougher ask for some of our rookie guys who don’t have much experience to go out there and give them the ball and ask them ‘Let’s go out there and get a save.’”
Katz noted that high-leverage opportunities for rookies have trickled in like Lane Ramsey’s debut in Cleveland, or Sammy Peralta’s 10th-inning escape this week against Seattle, and will continue. But the demand for high-leverage arms will probably outpace the supply for a club that struggles offensively, and the Sox will just have to deal with it.
For next year, a greater area of concern is a rotation that likely can pencil in only Dylan Cease and Michael Kopech to return, and both sport ERAs over 4.85. While Katz acknowledges that Cease was mechanically all over the place for much of the season as they work to address issues with staying closed in his delivery, he thinks last year’s Cy Young finalist is on track to finish the year strong.
Recent poor results are more attributable to finer details like Cease losing a measure of deception out of the stretch, as indicated by stronger results when he’s able to retire the first batter of the inning.
“Everybody’s picking everybody apart, and when you’re good, they’re really spending more time picking you apart,” Katz said.
Cease’s average velocity on all his pitches is down by at least a mile per hour from last season, but Katz still sees the stuff present for him to be highly successful, and that this is more a natural ebb from a pitcher who has had an almost spotless track record of health since being acquired in 2017.
“This guy has posted for three years straight, he takes the ball every single start,” Katz said. “It’s hard for guys to maintain 97 mph.”
It’s also harder, Katz argues, to reach back for your best stuff when things aren’t going right. Which is relevant to Kopech, who is consistently in the in-between space of shifting between different versions of his slider, trying to extend his innings base but also responding to fatigue in the final month, and just battling inconsistency.
In the absence of clear answers for Kopech’s second half struggles, Katz wants a turnaround to start with mindset.
“Just go out there with an aggressive approach and see where the cards fall,” Katz said. “Everybody’s getting an opportunity to show what they’re capable of and possibly be a contributor for us next year. These games are very important to the development of our younger guys and our veteran guys.”
