Who Is The White Sox Closer? Fantasy Baseball Saves Outlook

Coming into the 2024 season White Sox manager Pedro Grifol made it clear that his plan for save chances would be the closer-by-committee approach. In comments to the media, he invoked the name of Dennis Eckersley when stating the caliber of reliever he would need in his bullpen to nominate a clear-cut closer.

Necessitating a reliever to be on his way to the Hall of Fame was a strange and unnecessary qualifier. The takeaway from Grifol’s analysis, however clumsy, is that none of the pitchers available to him stood out from the rest. If a team’s manager is uninspired by his options, what can we as fantasy players stand to gain?

The combination of uncertain roles and a downright bad outlook for the season made an early investment in Chicago’s pen a sketchy one. With the first weeks of real baseball in the books, it is time to revisit the White Sox and assess who, if anyone, might be worth adding at this point.

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The Contenders

When John Brebbia signed with Chicago in January, he looked like a leading candidate for the team’s closer role. He suffered a calf strain early in spring training and nursed the injury through the preseason. Brebbia made four appearances in the regular season until the same injury sent him to the injured list retroactive to April 6, taking him out of the running.

One more for you on the injury-update front: John Brebbia is likely to return once his requisite 15 days on the injured list are up. His placement was backdated to April 6, so he’d presumably be back on the active roster April 21.

— Vinnie Duber (@VinnieDuber) April 12, 2024

Of the healthy White Sox remaining in the bullpen, five have seen save opportunities. Deivi Garcia, Tim Hill, and Bryan Shaw have had one each. Each chance resulted in a blown save, however, and the trio has a collective ERA of 10.98 in their sparing usage. Tanner Banks also has a blown save, but his more recent usage as an opener suggests he will not be called on to close regularly.

Michael Kopech leads the White Sox in save opportunities with a grand total of two thus far. On April 2 against Atlanta, he gave up a home run and walked two batters on his way to a five-out save. His next chance, on April 9, went smoother as he tossed two perfect innings and struck out four to close it out against Cleveland.

The Best Bet

The White Sox will not see much success this season, but even the worst teams win now and again. Kopech seems best suited to secure those wins. The sample size is small but his 38.7 K% ranks in the top 5% of the league and he has the stuff to stay near the top. In his appearance against the Guardians, Kopech hit 100 mph or higher 15 times.

Michael Kopech, Obliterating the Side. 🔥🔥🔥

100mph, 101mph...and 102mph pic.twitter.com/O3ShdZ9neq

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 10, 2024

Walks and hard hits have been an issue for Kopech already, but he has suffered less damage than his fellow teammates. He looks like a high-strikeout Kyle Finnegan in that he won’t do your ratios any favors but if current patterns hold he could deliver 20 saves by the end of the season. Brebbia may return by next week, but he doesn’t have the stuff that Kopech has to overpower hitters. If there is a White Sox reliever to invest in, it is Kopech.

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