It's White Sox over Cubs in a battle of bullpens

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The Cubs continued their morass with a 10-2 loss to the Mets Saturday.  Jose, “I was traded for Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease” was lit up, giving up nine hits and eight runs in 4.1 innings.  His ERA is now at 4.50 and his record stands at 4-7.  The Cubs offense is also mired in one of their periodic slumps.  All in all, the Cubs seem to be less than the sum total of their parts.  The Cubs bullpen should be helped by the addition of Craig Kimbrel , but more about that later. 

Sox add another piece

Meanwhile, the White Sox continue to hover around .500.  The Sox 5-4 win over the Rangers Friday night gave Sox fans plenty of reason for optimism.  Rookie catcher/ DH, Zack Collins had a three run homer and Eloy Jimenez also had two hits and an RBI to power the offense.  Yolmer Sanchez squeezed in the winning run in the 10^th inning.

Giolito and the pen need help

Reynaldo Lopez went 5.1 innings, allowing three earned runs.  His ERA is sitting at 6.23.  To think the Sox are only one game below .500 in spite of the problems their starting pitchers have had is amazing.  I still wish the Sox would try to pick up a starting pitcher.  I still haven’t given up this season yet, though it seems like the White Sox front office has.  A lot of their success has had to do with their bullpen.

Bummer no longer a joke and Jace no longer getting fried

The acquisition of Alex Colome has been great.  He’s 16-16 in save situations.  I can only hope the White Sox won’t send him packing for prospects.  Evan Marshall hasn’t given up a run in 17.1 innings and Aaron Bummer’s name no longer produces jokes, just a feeling of irony.  Jace Fry seems to be coming around.  Bummer and Fry could combine to give the Sox a couple of good lefties in the pen, a relative rarity.  Free agent signee, Kelvin Herrera, has had a rough year, but could come around.

How much of a difference can Kimbrel make?

By way of contrast, the Cubs pen has been inconsistent, and frankly a problem.  Brad Brach has been giving more walks than a dog walker while Steve Cishek has shown some slippage this year.  Pedro Strop has an ERA north of 5 at 5.52 and Mike Montgomery really hasn’t been all that effective this season.  Brandon Kintzler has experienced a bounce back season, though his peripherals aren’t as strong as his ERA would indicate.

Hopefully Craig Kimbrel will solidify things in the Cubs pen.  Right now the Sox pen looks a lot better than the Cubs.

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