A White Sox bullpen that started 2016 looking like one of the best in the American League ended up in shambles by the midway point of the season.
Injuries to Zach Putnam and Jake Petricka hurt the team’s depth, David Robertson looked more and more like a reliever headed toward serious decline, and a lack of internal depth options led to an over-reliance on journeymen like Matt Albers.
Then there was Nate Jones.
Jones was the one reliably consistent piece of the bullpen all season long. He led the team in appearances and led all Sox relievers in innings. After missing all of 2014 and most of 2015 because of injuries, Jones came back even better than the reliever who showed so much promise during the first two full seasons of his career.
In 2012 and 2013, Jones had the makings of a high-leverage reliever, and even after two years spent mostly on the sidelines, nothing has changed, and his rate stats only became more impressive. He was one of 17 American League relievers to post a K/9 above 10 (10.2), and of those 17, Jones’ career-best BB/9 of 1.9 was bested only by Andrew Miller and Kelvin Herrera.
All of that adds up to career-best marks in K/BB (5.33, had never been higher than 3.42), cFIP (70), and TAv (.199), and one of the more valuable relievers in the league.
Jones will be 31 at the start of next year and is signed to a very team-friendly contract, even by reliever standards. He’ll make $1.9M in 2017 and the White Sox control him through 2021 at salaries that will never be more than $6M. When you compare that to Robertson (whose Year in Review is coming) and the $25M he’s owed over the next two seasons, coupled with declining stats, and it’s easy to see how Jones’ role in the bullpen will only continue to grow so long as he remains healthy.
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