Presto, Change-o

The White Sox took a three-run lead into the bottom of the seventh innings last night when Sox manager Rick Renteria set about working his magic. First, Renteria brings in Jimmy Cordero from the bullpen. Presto. Three singles and two non-scoring outs later, he has Carlos Rodon face switch-hitting Cesar Hernandez, who delivers a two-run single. Next up is Jose Ramirez, who hits a two-run double off the left-field wall. Change-o. Gosh, who’d think Rodon would be so rusty after not pitching since August 3rd? Oh, and Rodon hasn’t pitched in relief since 2015. In his post-game comments, Renteria said he wanted to see how Rodon would do in relief, which is how the Sox intend to use him in the postseason. A question that might have gone unasked—then why have him on the roster at all? I mean, fifteen pitchers? Evan Marshall is an honest-to-goodness reliever currently on the IL. When he comes back, are they going to send down another position player in order to carry sixteen pitchers? Most likely, reliever Jose Ruiz gets demoted. And Danny Mendick has to wonder what exactly it was he did wrong. Fifteen pitchers versus thirteen position players? This ain’t baseball like I know it. Here’s why most Sox fans are going crazy—for the first time in over a month, Renteria had Aaron Bummer available, and he puts in Rodon first; Bummer pitched a scoreless eighth. That’s a move right out of Jim Boylen’s playbook. I wonder, how long until Renteria joins Boylen on the unemployment line? Boylen could use the company.