Manager A.J. Hinch in no rush to name a closer or set specific bullpen roles
So, Jason Foley, did you know ahead of time that you would be the closer in the season opener?
“We really, honestly, have as good a guess as you,” said Foley, who punched out Yoan Moncada and Luis Robert, Jr., Thursday to save the Tigers’ 1-0 win. “He didn’t specify anything.”
He, of course, is manager AJ Hinch and he very pointedly has not and will not (at least not yet) declare a closer or lock in any specific roles for his six leverage-eligible relievers.
“With that ninth-inning obsession, we’re going to kind of stay the course,” Hinch said before the game Saturday. “Just because I need to think about how we’re going to get to the finish line before I worry about the finish line. It could be game to game. It could be series to series.”
Foley thought he might get the call in the seventh inning Thursday. The White Sox had five straight righthanded hitters coming up. Instead, Hinch called on Shelby Miller. One, because Miller’s high-extension fastball and bullet slider offered a stark contrast to what they’d faced from lefty Tarik Skubal for six innings. Two, Hinch knew it wasn’t the last time those hitters would come to bat.
“Going into the game,
there is no telling how it’s going to play out, both in situations and who we’re going to use,” Hinch said. “When I decided to use Shelby, that pocket is going to come around again in the ninth. I started thinking about how we’re going to get to the finish line and I liked the combination we had (Miller and Foley) with (lefty Andrew) Chafin sandwiched in between them.
“It’s not hard to put Jason Foley in the game. It’s harder to wait to put him in the game.”
It helped, too, that Foley’s power sinker, which he was throwing 100 and 101 mph, is a devastating pitch to most right-handed hitters and has been a particular problem for Robert and Eloy Jimenez, who hit in the third and fourth spots in the White Sox order.
Also, had lead-off hitter Andrew Benintendi got on base to start the inning against Chafin, Foley’s career 57% ground-ball rate would put to good use.
“No one really has any idea (when they will be summoned into a game),” Foley said. “I thought maybe the seventh would’ve been my spot. I honestly thought (Alex) Lange was going to throw the ninth. But you’ve got to be ready when that phone rings.”
For the first part of the season, Hinch will likely seek the best matchups and situations for Foley, Lange, Miller, Chafin, lefty Tyler Holton and right-hander Will Vest.
“I will settle in onto someone more often,” Hinch said. “I always have and I always will. I just don’t think it’s smart to say right now what it’s going to be until I get these guys into the season and see what the best combination is. If we need Jason earlier in the game, great. Alex could close today.
“If we get the right pocket for Shelby, Tyler, Chafe, Will — we will do it. I feel good about a lot of different ways to put together the last nine outs. I will settle into my favorite combination at some point but I’m not going to declare it on Game 2.”
Crisis averted
Hinch very nearly got hit by one of the cars the White Sox used to bring their players onto the field during the Opening Day ceremonies Thursday.
“That was a close one,” he said.
The Tigers were introduced first and then left the field while the White Sox staged their Opening Day pageant, which included the players driven in on an assortment of cars and jeeps. As Hinch was hurrying his players back on the field for the National Anthem, he nearly stepped in front of one of the cars.
“They have priority, clearly,” he said, with a wry smile because the slow moving car clearly wasn’t trying to avoid him. “I am letting the car pass next time.”
Asked if he got the license plate number, Hinch quipped, “No, but I would’ve had an attorney.”