Coming into Spring Training, Nate Jones was on nobody’s radar when it came to the team’s bullpen spots for 2012. He had never made it past AA and was drafted back in 2007. At age 26, many figured that Jones was an afterthought in the White Sox organization.
Many were surprised when Jones was chosen over Brian Bruney out of ST. Credit: whitesoxcards.net
Fast forward to today: he’s 7-0 with a 3.38 ERA and has been a model of consistency in this bullpen all season long. With multiple disabled list trips for Jesse Crain, Matt Thornton having a rough season, and Brett Myers not coming over until July, the team has had to lean on Jones in literally every right-handed bullpen role at some point in time this season. Whether it be a mop-up guy like he was in April, a seventh or eighth inning guy, a long relief guy, or the sixth or seventh inning right hander that can give you two innings like he is right now, Jones has done everything asked of him pretty well.
When you look at his stuff, it’s hard to believe it took him this long to bloom into a good MLB reliever. With a fastball with movement and that can reach 100 miles per hour, Jones has the ability to come in and shut down the opposition.
His 2012 reminds me a lot of the 2005 Cliff Politte had, where he went 7-1. Sure, some of those wins are what one would call “vulture” wins, but the number shows that Jones has put the Sox in position to win the game when it gets into the hands of the bullpen.
Something that Jones has struggled with this season is inherited runners, and especially early in the year, he gave up those runs seemingly every time he came in with men on-base. However, he’s progressively improved at that as the year as gone one. Over the weekend, he got out of two huge jams upon entering the Saturday and Sunday games against the Mariners, with Sunday’s being with men on first and third with no one out.
It will be interesting to see what the bullpen looks like heading into next season, with the contract of Brett Myers being a question and the Sox likely looking for a left-handed specialist to couple with Matt Thornton.
With that said, it looks like Nate Jones could be a mainstay in this bullpen for a few years or at least bring in a considerable amount of value in the trade market.
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