Should the White Sox swap Bobby Jenks for J.J. Putz?
It’s easy to overreact after a loss like Wednesday night’s, but there’s also a legitimate discussion now: Should Bobby Jenks be discharged from the closer role for J.J. Putz? Jenks has blown his last two save opportunities in pretty awful fashion. His command has been poor and he hasn’t missed many bats — mainly because he doesn’t have his curveball. In 10 pitches Wednesday, Jenks threw eight fastballs and two sliders. In his blown save Sunday in Minneapolis, Jenks threw just two curveballs. So in his last two outings, Jenks has been essentially a fastball pitcher. Even if he had decent command of his fastball, Jenks would be bound to give up more than a few hits as a one-pitch pitcher. Ozzie Guillen hasn’t been oblivious to this, as he announced after Wednesday’s game the team’s closer will be by committee. That means Jenks, Matt Thornton, and J.J. Putz will all be on call for the ninth inning for the near future. That’s a better idea than completely handing the closer reigns over to
