Bobby Jenks, World Series champion closer, dies at 44

My uncle and I were in attendance at U.S. Cellular Field when Bobby Jenks made his major league debut. It was July 6, 2005, against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Ninth inning, White Sox leading 7-2.

Jenks walked the first batter he faced on four pitches.

However, his fastball was lighting up the stadium radar gun at 98-99 mph. I remember telling my uncle, "If this guy can put that pitch in the strike zone, he's going to be fine."

Three batters later, Jenks had two strikeouts and three outs, and the Sox had a stress-free victory. Little did we know how significant the addition of Jenks to the roster would be.

A little more than three months later, the then-24-year-old right-hander was on the mound in a much more stressful situation.

It was the ninth inning of Game 4 of the World Series. The Sox were leading the Houston Astros 1-0, looking for a sweep and their first championship since 1917. Tying run on second base, two outs. 

Jenks got the out he needed for the Sox, getting Orlando Palmeiro to bounce out to shortstop Juan Uribe. The Sox were champions! It was one of the happiest moments of my life.

On Saturday at my mom's house, my uncle and I were discussing our memories of Jenks' big-league debut, which happened 20 years ago today. Our family gathered this weekend to mark the Fourth of July and my 49th birthday, which is Monday. During our celebration, we got the bad news that Jenks died Friday at age 44, after a battle with adenocarcinoma, a form of stomach cancer.

This is a sad time for everyone who is part of the White Sox community. There is only one Sox pitcher to record the last out of the World Series in the past 108 years. That player is Jenks, and that moment will live forever, even though the man who created it is now gone.

Jenks also closed out the division-clinching game in 2005 against the Detroit Tigers, and the clinching game of the American League Division Series against the Boston Red Sox. He appeared in all four games of the 2005 World Series, earning two saves.

By 2011, Jenks was out of baseball -- a back injury ending his time in the majors. It was not a long career, but it was a successful one. Here are some of his other accolades:

• 173 saves, second-most in Sox history
• consecutive 40-save seasons (2006-07)
• consecutive All-Star selections (2006-07)
• five saves and a 2.00 ERA in seven postseason appearances
• retired a team-record 41 batters in 2007 (a record later broken by teammate Mark Buehrle)
• had the fifth-most saves in baseball from 2006 to 2010

Jenks was a pitcher ahead of his time. In today's baseball, nearly every team in the league has a stable of relief pitchers who rush the ball up to home plate at 95 mph or more. But in 2005, there were only a handful of guys in the league like that. It got your attention when someone was hitting 98 to 102 mph with consistency. 

Jenks' fastball had both high-end velocity and a late cut that made him very difficult to square up. He also had a 12-to-6 breaking ball that he could throw for strikes with consistency. That's a good recipe for a strong closer in any era, but especially in that era, where 98 mph on the gun was uncommon.

Unfortunately, Jenks' death comes a week before the Sox are set to honor the 20th anniversary of the 2005 World Series championship. Events are scheduled throughout next week's home series against the Cleveland Guardians (July 10-13). All Sox fans had hoped Jenks would be well enough to attend those ceremonies. Sadly, that is not the case.

Fortunately, Jenks was in Chicago for SoxFest in 2015, and my girlfriend was able to get his autograph in her 2005 scrapbook (see picture). That signature has always been valuable, but it's a little more cherished right now.

Here's how I would sum up Bobby Jenks: If I had to pick one White Sox relief pitcher from my nearly 50 years of fandom to get three outs in the ninth inning, Jenks is the guy I'd want on the mound.

With all due respect to Bobby Thigpen, Roberto Hernandez and Liam Hendriks, Jenks is the best closer I've had the privilege of rooting for on the South Side of Chicago.

RIP, Bobby Jenks.

Happy Fourth of July from The Baseball Kid!

 

We are blessed to live in the greatest country in the world. Enjoy the celebration, everyone!

Colson Montgomery: No, it's not time to call him up

White Sox prospect Colson Montgomery had quite a week with Triple-A Charlotte. In his past four games, he's gone 10 for 18 with four home runs, two doubles and seven RBIs.

For his efforts, Montgomery was named International League Player of the Week. That's great. It's good to see the 23-year-old shortstop, who was selected in the first round of the 2021 draft, showing his power potential.

The hot streak has caused some fans to argue that Montgomery should be promoted to the big leagues right now. Heck, even MLB.com's Scott Merkin raised the possibility in a recent article. 

The Sox should resist the temptation. 

You see, right now this is nothing more than just a hot streak. It's a good four games, but it's not necessarily a sign that Montgomery has mastered the level. 

Let's not forget that Montgomery's season slash line is .217/.294/.425, despite playing his home games in a notorious hitters' park. Yes, he's got 11 homers, 10 doubles and two triples among his 49 hits. That's good. That's what's getting his slugging percentage up over .400.

But he's also got 83 strikeouts against only 20 walks in 226 plate appearances. That's bad, especially for a player who is in his second season at the Triple-A level. Remember, Montgomery had a disappointing 2024, when he batted just .214/.329/.381. What he's doing this season isn't that much different than what he did a year ago.

Montgomery's supporters will point out he's been good recently. And by recently, they'll mean the past four days. Flashback to June 25, also known as last Wednesday, and Montgomery was mired in a 3-for-27 slump that featured 12 strikeouts. Just five days ago, nobody would have been clamoring to see him in Chicago.

So, don't clamor for him now, either. We need to see more than just one good week. We need to see consistent play from Montgomery over a month or six weeks before even considering a promotion.

It is true that the Sox have some weak bats in their infield. Josh Rojas and Vinny Capra are inspiring exactly no one with their poor play. White Sox Twitter has a temper tantrum each and every time manager Will Venable puts Capra in the lineup.

"Montgomery has to be better than these guys," the argument goes.

However, here's what everyone needs to understand: A problem in Chicago is not a great reason to promote a prospect to the big leagues, especially one like Montgomery, in whom the Sox have invested a lot of time and resources. You promote a prospect when he is ready, when he has mastered the minor league level to a point where he has nothing left to prove.

Montgomery has not mastered Triple-A. His week represented progress, but there is still work to be done. Keep him in Charlotte. 

Garrett Crochet trade return: Too soon to celebrate it?

The White Sox reached the halfway point of the season Wednesday with a 7-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Their record stands at 26-55, which means they are on pace for 52 wins this season. That would be an 11-game improvement over last year's 41-121 disaster.

You might say an 11-game improvement feels a little better when you go from, say, 83 wins to 94, as opposed to 41 wins to 52. Even if that's what ends up happening here, you won't catch me celebrating it.

Speaking of celebrating, I've seen some fans on Twitter celebrating the offseason trade of Garrett Crochet, now that three of the four players the Sox acquired from the Boston Red Sox are in the major leagues.

Crochet, of course, is pitching exceptionally well in Boston. That comes as no surprise. He's 7-4 with a 2.06 ERA in 17 starts, and he leads American League pitchers in strikeouts (135), innings pitched (109.1) and bWAR (3.8).

The Red Sox are a mediocre team, but hey, it isn't Crochet's fault. He's an All-Star, and everyone knows it. The question is, did Chicago do well with the players it acquired in its signature offseason move? Let's evaluate:

Kyle Teel, C: Teel put up an .886 OPS in 50 games in Triple-A Charlotte and made his MLB debut on June 6 against the Royals. In 14 games since he joined Chicago, he's batting .282/.408/.359. He's yet to hit a home run, and he didn't have an extra-base hit until this past week. That's the bad news.

But the good news is he's 5 for 14 with three doubles in his past five games, raising his OPS from .615 to .767. When the sample size is small, a player can go from below average to a 120 OPS+ pretty quickly, and that's what Teel has done this week.

The 23-year-old, left-handed hitter has looked competent defensively, and his framing has been better than fellow young catcher Edgar Quero, which has allowed him to get the majority of the starts behind the plate.

One interesting story to follow the second half: How do the Sox dole out the playing time for these two young catchers? I see a lot of fans upset when whichever guy isn't catching doesn't start at DH. Me personally, I'm not a fan of using the second catcher as a DH -- especially when neither catcher is an elite hitter.  

Teel has the kind of athleticism that suggests he could move to the outfield or first base seamlessly. The problem with that is he's a better catcher than Quero right now, and that makes me reluctant to call for that. Of course, Quero is only 22 years old himself, and he most certainly can improve. 

It could be that Quero becomes the everyday catcher long term, and Teel makes a position change. Or maybe Teel is the catcher, and Quero becomes trade fodder. The competition between the two and the team's handling of it should be fascinating to follow. Having two potential solutions at the position is a good problem to have. You rarely state that about the Sox.

Braden Montgomery, OF: This is the first season in pro ball for the 22-year-old, who is currently at High-A Winston Salem.

Montgomery started the season in Low-A Kannapolis, and he tore the Carolina League apart in 18 games to earn a quick promotion, hitting .304/.393/.493 with 19 RBIs. His numbers at Winston have been good. Not spectacular, but good. 

He's batting .271/.345/.475 with with seven homers, 12 doubles, two triples and 30 RBIs in 48 games. Montgomery is probably the highest-upside hitter in the organization, but it's too early to say whether he will one day become a stalwart in Chicago. 

Right now, the plan is probably to finish the year in High-A. Maybe there's another promotion to Double-A Birmingham coming later this year if his numbers go from good to dominant.

Chase Meidroth, SS/2B: I don't think we expected Meidroth to be the everyday shortstop in Chicago this season, but that's how it has worked out. When the season started, we heard a lot of Colson Montgomery hype, but with Montgomery still flailing at Triple-A, Meidroth has made the most of his opportunity.

After posting a 1.050 OPS in nine game at Triple-A Charlotte to start the season, Meidroth got a quick call-up to Chicago, and he's been a surprisingly good defensive shortstop. Scouts have said his long-term future is at second base, and maybe they are right. That said, I don't feel nervous when the opposition hits the ball to Meidroth at short. He's handled most everything that he's supposed to handle.

At the plate, he got off to a good start, but he's cooled significantly as of late. He's currently batting .264/.347/.317. His OPS+ is 90, which means he's 10% below league average at the position.

Over his past 12 games, Meidroth has slumped to a .163/.222/.163 slash line in 54 plate appearances. It's ugly, but it's also not a huge sample. An overall on-base percentage near .350 with good defense will play, if Meidroth can right the ship and maintain that over the course of a whole season.

I've seen some fans touting Meidroth as a member of the future core of the next good Sox team. Let's pump the brakes on that. The 23-year-old has earned the right to continue to play every day. That is fact. However, we still need to see whether his offense will hold up over the long haul.

Wikelman Gonzalez, RHP: The 23-year-old began the season by making four starts at Double-A Birmingham, but then he was converted to a reliever and promoted to Triple-A Charlotte, where he had a 2.75 ERA across 12 appearances and 16.1 innings.

That was good enough to earn a promotion to Chicago. Gonzalez made his MLB debut on June 20 against Toronto. He's made two appearances thus far, both lasting two innings. He allowed one run in both. He struck out five in four innings. That's good. He's walked four in four innings. That's bad.

But the stuff looks pretty good when Gonzalez throws it in the zone. Once again, it's too early to say whether this guy is a future bullpen stalwart, but he's shown enough so far to get some more opportunity.

Right now, it's just too early to do any victory lap about the Crochet trade. Every player the Sox acquired in this deal has had encouraging moments. It's a good sign that none of the three who have been called to the majors have fallen flat on their face. 

We've seen so much incompetence as a fan base that sometimes when we see competence in rookies, we get a little out over our skis and anoint them as the next big thing a little too soon. My final verdict: Be hopeful for these guys, but understand there is still a long way to go before they can be called established players. 

White Sox trade Andrew Vaughn, acquire Aaron Civale

The White Sox on Friday made a surprise trade, sending first baseman Andrew Vaughn to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for pitcher Aaron Civale.

The thing that's surprising about the deal is that the Sox got anything of value for Vaughn. The 27-year-old was selected third overall in the 2019 MLB Draft, but he never lived up to that pedigree with the Sox. 

In five seasons with the team, Vaughn finished with a .248/.303/.407 slash line. His OPS+ was 97, which means he was 3% below average with the bat during his time on the South Side of Chicago. That makes it tough to roster someone like Vaughn, who is a poor fielder and a slow runner.

In fact, Vaughn accumulated -0.4 bWAR in his Sox career, including an ugly -1.6 bWAR in the 2025 season. Vaughn bottomed out this year, batting .189/.218/.314 with five homers and 19 RBIs in 48 games.

That performance earned Vaughn a trip to Triple-A Charlotte. Now with the Brewers organization, he'll be playing for Triple-A Nashville.

Civale, a 30-year-old veteran right-hander with 123 career starts under his belt, asked out of Milwaukee after a demotion to the bullpen.

He missed the start of the season with a hamstring strain, and then went 1-2 with a 4.91 ERA across five starts with the Brewers.

Civale made his Sox debut on Sunday and pitched OK, giving up two runs in five innings. He was the losing pitcher as the Sox took a 2-1 loss against the Texas Rangers.

This is a good trade for the Sox because Civale will bring value to the team by covering innings at the major league level. Vaughn brings no value of any sort.

It's no secret the Sox have a thin starting rotation. Veteran Martin Perez is on the shelf with a forearm injury. Drew Thorpe, Ky Bush and Mason Adams are all out for the season after undergoing elbow surgery.

That has left the Sox to rely on a lot of inexperienced pitchers in their rotation. Shane Smith has been their best starter, but at 68.1 innings pitched, he only 26 innings short of a career high. It's only June 16.

Sean Burke is in a similar situation. His career high in innings is 108. He's at 70.2. 

What about Davis Martin? He once threw 144 innings at Single-A Kannapolis, but that was in 2019. Martin had Tommy John surgery in 2023. He's thrown 80.2 innings this season.

That's where Civale comes in. He threw 161 innings last year. With Perez being absent, Civale and Adrian Houser are the guys who can munch innings when any of the aforementioned three starters need to skip a start. It will happen.

Unfortunately, the Sox have lost five in a row after Sunday's loss. They are now 7-31 on the road after getting swept in Texas. They are 23-49 this season. 

White Sox call up RHP Grant Taylor

The White Sox on Tuesday called up one of their best pitching prospects, right-handed relief pitcher Grant Taylor.

Taylor, 23, was chosen in the second round of the 2023 draft. He was widely considered a first-round talent out of LSU, but he slipped to the Sox in the second round because he was recovering from Tommy John surgery during his draft year.

This is the right-hander's first full healthy season in professional baseball, and in 15 games in Double-A Birmingham, Taylor was 0-1 with a 1.01 ERA. He struck out 37 and walked 11 in 26.2 innings.

The first six of those 15 outings were starts. Someone controversially, the Sox recently moved him to the Birmingham bullpen. The prospect guys in the media and blogosphere objected, arguing that Taylor should continue his development as a starter.

No matter how you feel about that, Taylor was overpowering in nine Double-A relief appearances. He did not allow a run, while striking out 18. Only four batters reached bases against him -- three singles and one walk.

The Sox wasted no time throwing Taylor into a game. He worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh inning in Tuesday's 4-2 victory the Houston Astros. Taylor got his outs on 12 pitches, six of which were over 100 mph. He is still looking for his first strikeout after inducing a flyout to center and two grounders to the shortstop.

The Sox got a big game from Luis Robert Jr., who went 2 for 4 with an RBI double and his sixth home run of the season. Edgar Quero had perhaps the biggest hit, a two-out, two-run single with the bases loaded that staked the Sox to an early 3-0 lead in the third inning.

Shane Smith (3-3) perhaps didn't have his best stuff, as he allowed seven hits and two walks across six innings pitched. But he surrendered only one run and benefited from three double plays turned behind him. He struck out four and has now won his past two starts. 

Brandon Eisert worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his second save of the season. The Sox are 23-44. 

White Sox take 2 of 3 from Royals

Coming into this weekend's series at Rate Field, the White Sox had lost 10 in a row and 18 out of 19 against the Kansas City Royals. 

Doesn't it seem like the Sox have a lot of these terrible losing streaks left over from the Pedro Grifol era? 

The good news is the Sox put an end to that foolishness by taking two out of three from the Royals over the weekend. The South Siders completed a 4-3 homestand against the first-place Detroit Tigers and Kansas City.

Frankly, I was expecting a 2-5 record this week, so I have no complaints, despite a Sox loss on Sunday. Here's a look back at the weekend that was:

Friday, June 6

White Sox 7, Royals 2: The Sox used a five-run bottom of the eighth inning to break open a 2-2 tie. Luis Robert Jr.'s two-run bloop single with the bases loaded put the Sox ahead to stay at 4-2.

Kansas City then gifted the Sox three more runs with a wild pitch and two errors. Robert Jr. finished the game 2 for 3 with three RBIs, although both hits were soft singles. The Sox broadcast booth tried to convince fans that Robert Jr. is "back" after that performance. Alas, he was 0 for 8 with four strikeouts in the final two games of the series.

Davis Martin got a no-decision, but pitched well. He gave up two runs on five hits over six innings. He struck out seven and walked nobody. Catcher Kyle Teel went 1 for 2 with two walks and a run scored in his MLB debut.

Saturday, June 7

White Sox 4, Royals 1: A pair of home runs made the difference for the Sox. Tim Elko's fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot in the second inning, put the Sox ahead 2-1. Chase Meidroth's second home run of the year made it 3-1 in the third.

There the score stayed until the bottom of the eighth. Singles by Miguel Vargas and Teel and a sacrifice fly by Edgar Quero produced the fourth Sox run.

Adrian Houser (2-1) tossed six innings of one-run ball to get the win. He struck out six and walked one. Relievers Cam Booser, Steven Wilson and Dan Altavilla each worked a scoreless inning, with Altavilla earning his first save with the Sox. 

Sunday, June 8

Royals 7, White Sox 5: Kansas City's offense broke out with 16 hits, and the Sox were fortunate to limit the damage by turning five double plays.

Nevertheless, the Royals broke up a 2-2 tie with two runs in the seventh inning and three more in the ninth. The Sox trailed 7-2 heading into their last at-bat, but they came up with three runs and had the bases loaded with two outs. Alas, Elko struck out swinging against Kansas City closer Carlos Estevez to end the game.

Vargas totaled three RBIs for the Sox. He hit his team-leading ninth homer, a two-run shot in the first, and drew a bases-loaded walk in the ninth. The South Siders were limited to four hits and struck out 11 times.

The Sox are 22-44.