It took nearly a month, but Ozzie Guillen might finally have found his closer. Via MLB.com:
Sergio Santos Next In Line As White Sox Closer
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After Sergio Santos closed out Monday's 2-0 victory over the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, manager Ozzie Guillen hinted that Santos will have another shot to take control of that prime late-inning role.
"We are going to see how he is tomorrow," said Guillen of Santos. "And if the opportunity comes again, we'll see how he handles it."
To which 97 percent of White Sox fans reply, "What the $%&@ took you so long?"
Which might not be completely fair.
Not so long ago, Santos was fifth in line for saves.
A year ago, the White Sox' closer was Bobby Jenks. He didn't pitch all that well, and finally went on the shelf in September. Jenks did record 27 saves. Now he pitches (if not well) for the Red Sox.
Next in line was Matt Thornton, who saved eight games last season. Left-hander Chris Sale was the White Sox' first-round draft pick in June, spent 10 innings in the minors, and wound up winning two games for the big club and saving four more. Veteran J.J. Putz picked up three saves.
And (then) 26-year-old Sergio Santos, the ex-infielder in just his second season as a professional pitcher? He recorded exactly one save.
This spring, Jenks and Putz were gone but Thornton and Sale weren’t, and both Thornton and Sale finished 2010 with lower ERAs and higher strikeout-to-walk ratios than Santos.
So it seemed (and still seems) perfectly reasonable for Thornton and Sale to rank ahead of Santos on the depth chart.
It just didn’t work out real well. Thornton’s got four blown saves and a 6.75 ERA. Sale’s got a 5.79 ERA.
And Santos? He hasn’t allowed a run this spring. Literally, all spring. He hasn’t allowed a run during the season; he didn’t allow a run during spring training. So yes, it’s probably his turn.
I’m not sure that Santos will ever be a great pitcher. In his 63 major-league innings, he’s walked 30 hitters. Which hasn’t been a problem because he’s also struck out 70 hitters and -- here’s the big thing -- he’s given up only two home runs. Santos is not a ground-ball pitcher, so it’s not clear that he’ll be able to continuing avoiding the big flies to such an extreme degree. So far, though, it’s been working.
Finally, we can’t leave this subject without mentioning the most amazing thing about Sergio Santos ... He’s got an 8.16 career ERA in the minor leagues.
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