Fatal flaw: Every MLB contender has a weak spot
By Bill Felber
Chicago White Sox
In terms of winning their division, the White Sox are as home free as any team in baseball. Baseball-Reference makes them a 99.4 percent favorite to play postseason baseball. Only the Giants and Dodgers have better odds, and obviously, the odds on them can’t be all that much better.
But as Tony La Russa is only too aware, the Sox, too, show a potentially fatal flaw. It’s in the pen.
The back end of the pen looks good enough. Closer Liam Hendriks is enjoying a 4-2, 2.49 season with 24 saves. His backup, Michael Kopech, is 3-0, 1.60 with a 0.99 WHIP in 39 innings.
Dig deeper, though, and cracks begin to surface. Codi Heuer and Aaron Bummer have been called on for 70 innings of work thus far; both have ERAs around 5.00. Another veteran Evan Marshall, is at 5.60, high enough that La Russa has begun to curtail his usage.
That’s shifted more of the load to youngsters Jose Ruiz and Garrett Crochet.
As a group, the Sox pen sits at -1.2 WAA. Bullpens are such a volatile commodity that even that -1.2 only ranks 15th. But there’s no way -1.2 can be painted in a positive light, particularly for a team with serious postseason aspirations.