The White Sox bullpen got an update in a hurry Sunday.
At the same time the team announced that rookie outfielder Eloy Jimenez was heading to the injured list with an ankle sprain, they put Nate Jones there, too, citing elbow inflammation. Then, an even bigger surprise came just before first pitch in Sunday's game against the Detroit Tigers, with Ryan Burr hitting the IL with A/C joint inflammation. Relievers Aaron Bummer and Thyago Vieira were summoned from Triple-A Charlotte to take the active-roster spots vacated by Jimenez and Jones. The team announced there will be another addition ahead of Monday's game against the Baltimore Orioles.
While we can only speculate as to who might replace Burr, that's two pitchers into the White Sox bullpen and two pitchers temporarily out of it in a matter of hours, a rapid makeover to a unit that manager Rick Renteria has had to lean on more than he would have liked in the early going this season. Throw in Manny Banuelos getting moved from the 'pen to the starting rotation in the wake of Ervin Santana getting designated for assignment Friday, and it's a quickly evolving relief corps.
As things stand as of this writing, the White Sox bullpen looks like this: Bummer, Alex Colome, Jace Fry, Carson Fulmer, Kelvin Herrera, Josh Osich, Jose Ruiz and Vieira, with Burr and Jones on the injured list. Dylan Covey and Caleb Frare made the Opening Day relief corps out of spring training but were sent down to Triple-A earlier this month. Ian Hamilton, who was injured during spring training and has yet to pitch in the big league bullpen this season, is on the 40-man roster, though he's got an ERA north of 11.00 at Charlotte.
It's hardly uncommon for a team to rotate pitchers in and out of their bullpen. What's less expected is the frequency with which White Sox relivers have had to pitch this season. Entering Sunday's game, White Sox starters had thrown the fewest innings in the majors, with only 118 of them in 24 games, an average of fewer than five innings a start. Certainly that's been on display of late, with no White Sox starter going five innings in any of the last four games prior to Sunday's. That's made for increased pressure on the bullpen and some ugly numbers because of it.
Couple that with the injuries, and there's a lot of reason for this early season churn.
There are eight guys in the bullpen now, so it's possible that Burr won't get replaced with a ninth. After all, one of the freed-up roster spots Sunday morning filled by a reliever was vacated by a position player in Jimenez. So perhaps a position player fills Burr's spot. It's also worth noting that the 40-man spot vacated by Santana hasn't yet been filled. So if the White Sox wanted to, they could even promote a player not currently on the 40-man roster to the active roster. There are plenty of options.
MLB
Regardless, however, this is a very different-looking bullpen than the one the White Sox left Baltimore with just four days ago.
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