The closer spot for the Chicago White Sox has been a question ever since the team acquired Craig Kimbrel prior to the trade deadline. At the time of the acquisition, both Kimbrel and Liam Hendriks were among the most dominant closers in MLB. We thought the acquisition gave the White Sox arguably the best bullpen in MLB.
But, since then, things haven’t exactly gone to plan.
Kimbrel has struggled pitching in an eighth-inning role, while Hendriks has allowed runs in three of eight August appearances, blowing one save and taking a loss.
On Thursday, the White Sox beat the Blue Jays 10-7. It was Kimbrel who pitched the ninth inning for the save while Hendriks took the day off. Kimbrel allowed a few hard-hit balls but only one official hit while allowing no runs to earn the save.
The reason why Kimbrel got the nod is because Hendriks was given two days off after throwing 39 pitches for a five-out save on Tuesday.
Hendriks has settled in since his bad two-game stretch against the Yankees. But Kimbrel doing well in the ninth while struggling in the eighth will likely lead some to say that the White Sox should switch around the roles for the two players. White Sox manager Tony La Russa likely won’t have much interest in such a suggestion.
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