And the hits keep coming.
Bobby Jenks is done for the season after popping his calf muscle while stretching. Fittingly, his final appearance this season will be the one in which he allowed two homers for the only time in his career.
I'll talk more about Jenks' future after the season. There's about two months in between the end of the season and the deadline to offer arbitration, so I'd like to save that material for when there's nothing else going on.
However, I thought it was interesting that Scot Gregor eliminated Matt Thornton from closer consideration:
Don't be surprised if Jenks is traded during the off-season, even though the Sox don't have another closer ready to step in.
And no, Matt Thornton is not the guy, even though he throws 97 mph with ease.
It's possible that Gregor means that Thornton isn't the guy solely because he's more valuable getting the game to the ninth. I'm hoping he doesn't mean that Thornton isn't cut out for the closer role because he doesn't have the intangibles, which is more what it sounds like.
Thornton has had a monster year while having the same leverage index as Jenks. He may not be pitching in the ninth inning, but he's no stranger to high-pressure situations. In truth, there's no way to know whether Thornton would crumble trying to record the 27th out because they haven't tried him in that situation.
Keith Foulke, arguably the greatest reliever in recent White Sox history, didn't save a game in the minor leagues. He only recorded one save in his first 54 appearances. Add in the fact that he didn't throw in the high-90s, and what, exactly, told people that Foulke would be a terrific closer before he got a close games out with regularity?
If the Sox got a second lefty somewhere close to Thornton's caliber, I'd have no reservations about letting him handle the ninth inning. But if Randy Williams is it, then Thornton should continue getting the high-leverage action in the seventh or eighth inning. There's no point in having a great closer if he doesn't get games to close.
In the meantime, let's not pretend that the ninth inning is some kind of ghastly beast that can only be tamed by men who have that steely look in their eye. If the rest of the Sox bullpen is ever good enough, then Thornton's good enough.
At least until he proves he isn't.
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Jermaine Dye knows all too well what his future will or won't bring:
"I'm not concerned about that,'' Dye said about his fate now being all but sealed. "Whatever happens is going to happen. At this point you just want to try and get into a somewhat of a little bit of a groove before the season is over. Go into the offseason and see what happens.
"I've never struggled like this before, never had a whole half that has been nothing. Over the course of a career, I think that's pretty good. The five years I've been here I've had five pretty good years, and it just so happened that I struggled here at the end, we were fighting to get into the playoffs, and it's just the way it is.''
For one, I hope Ozzie Guillen will make sure Dye is in the lineup on Sept. 27. And if he is, I hope fans will give him the ovation he deserves in spite of his struggles.
Just to cover all bases, there is a chance Dye could be back next season, but I would think his falling off the cliff has to scare them away too much. He could work for a team like the Mariners, who are getting bottom-of-the-barrel production from both their left fielder and designated hitter and have plenty of defense otherwise. For the Sox, Dye is playing the exact brand of baseball they're trying to distance themselves from.
