Chicago White Sox working to fill remaining weakness on roster

The Chicago White Sox have begun to focus on their biggest weakness, as they are beginning to restock the bullpen.

This offseason has seen the Chicago White Sox make a dramatic statement – the rebuild is over. A busy offseason resulted in the White Sox signing Dallas Keuchel, Yasmani Grandal, Edwin Encarnacion, and Gio Gonzalez. Jose Abreu inked a three year extension, and Chicago traded for the enigmatic Nomar Mazara.

There is no question that the White Sox have improved. However, there was still one gaping hole on the roster – the bullpen. Aside from Alex Colome and Aaron Bummer, it is difficult to imagine that any of the Chicago relievers will provide many useful innings from the bullpen. As great as the White Sox improvements may be, the bullpen could be their Achilles’ Heel.

It is something that the Chicago front office has noticed as well. On Tuesday, the White Sox took steps to rectify that issue, as they have reportedly signed sidearmer Steve Cishek to a one year deal with an option for 2021.

Cishek had a typically solid year in 2019. The righty worked to a 2.95 ERA and a 1.203 WHiP, striking out 57 batters with 29 walks in his 64 innings. He worked his typical ground ball magic, with a 1:1 ground ball to fly ball ratio.

Yet, there were some reasons for concern last year. Cishek posted a 4.54 FIP, vastly outperforming his metrics. His walk rate and strikeout to walk ratio were his worst since 2015. His .246 batting average against was far below league average, but he was excellent at limiting hard contact and keeping the ball in the yard.

Nonetheless, there is no reason why the White Sox should not anticipate Cishek to replicate his solid performance. He has consistently been able to flummox major league hitters regardless of his lack of velocity. the opposition has produced a meager .212/.296/.318 batting line against him in his decade in the majors, without any major platoon splits. With the new three batter minimum rule, Cishek could be an even bigger weapon for Chicago.

The Chicago White Sox have addressed their bullpen by signing Steve Cishek. While he is not the only reliever needed, he is a good start to upgrading their relief corps.