White Sox: 3 trade deadline regrets killing Chicago’s AL Central chances
By Tim Boyle
2) White Sox needed another big bullpen arm
Let’s expand on the Diekman addition: he wasn’t enough!
A lefty like him was a superb addition to a White Sox bullpen that hasn’t been so dangerous this year. The White Sox were smart to pick him up. They should have brought along a couple of friends, too.
Joe Kelly’s struggles this year have opened up a door for the White Sox to have the need for a legitimate and more productive right-handed option for those late innings. Because they are dealing with injuries and others who aren’t performing well, it was absolutely necessary for Chicago to go a little harder at building a bullpen.
Liam Hendriks has been good, and Kendall Graveman has lived up to the hype. They’ve received some big innings out of Reynaldo Lopez, too, helping to make up for the absence of so many other arms they were expected to rely upon.
The trade deadline is often the time when teams finally figure out what will work for their bullpen. Relief pitchers are hard to predict, but it’s at this annual mid-year moment when teams hope a change in uniform doesn’t change a player’s strong beginning.
One more right-handed reliever is all it would have taken. Even a second lefty wouldn’t have been so bad. The front office just needed to do something. They barely scratched the surface at improving their chances.