Chicago White Sox remove Ronald Belisario from closer role

May 20, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Ronald Belisario (54) is congratulated by catcher Tyler Flowers (21) after the game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. The White Sox won 7-6. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /

Ronald Belisario will no longer be closing games for the Chicago White Sox after manager Robin Ventura announced changes to his bullpen on Friday night. As Hardball Talk’s Craig Calcaterra writes, Ventura said after the team’s 5-4 win against Toronto that Belisario is “done” being closer.

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This isn’t really surprising news, especially after the jam that Belisario got himself in against the Blue Jays. Handed a 5-2 lead and the chance to close out the game, the ex-closer allowed a home run and two more hits before departing with a 5-3 score and the winning run at the plate.

Chicago eventually won that game, but Ventura clearly wasn’t happy with how the back of his bullpen performed. Belisario in particular has been shaky this season, posting a 5.54 ERA with 28 strikeouts and eight walks over 34 appearances. In 12 save opportunities, he’s only successfully converted eight.

So the White Sox will move to a closer-by-committee situation for now, with Jake Petricka likely getting the first crack at taking the job. The 26-year-old certainly has the expected velocity, with a fastball that averages 93.8 miles per hour according to FanGraphs, as well as a 2.08 ERA in 43.1 innings this season.

Some might be worried by Petricka’s underlying numbers, as he’s struck out 32 and walked 22, but he’s an absolute groundball machine. The right-hander has only allowed one home run this season, inducing grounders on over 63 percent of balls in play.

Other names could be in the mix, though, with Calcaterra noting Javy Guerra and Zach Putnam as two alternate possibilities.

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