{"id":78470,"date":"2025-08-16T02:01:19","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T02:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=78470"},"modified":"2025-08-16T02:01:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T02:01:19","slug":"tyler-alexander-mike-vasil-bulking-up-white-sox-sturdy-second-half-bullpen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=78470","title":{"rendered":"Tyler Alexander, Mike Vasil bulking up White Sox\u2019 sturdy second-half bullpen"},"content":{"rendered":"

KANSAS CITY, Mo. \u2014 A spot start? A save opportunity?<\/p>\n

A third of an inning? How about five?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all the same for White Sox relievers Tyler Alexander and Mike Vasil, who have taken on Swiss-army knife roles for a surprisingly stout bullpen that has emerged as one of the best in baseball since the All-Star break.<\/p>\n

The journeyman lefty Alexander and the rookie righty Vasil are serving important bulk relief roles to help back up a young rotation grinding to the end of the season.<\/p>\n

But they\u2019ve also each logged their first career saves and taken the ball in other high-leverage situations for the improved second-half squad \u2014 and they\u2019re never quite sure what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the chaos of what I\u2019m doing now,\u201d Alexander said before the Sox\u2019 series opener Friday night in Kansas City. \u201cIt\u2019s fun, it keeps it entertaining. And I think I\u2019m good at it, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chaos sounds about right for a guy who took a 90-minute Uber to Chicago from Milwaukee when the Sox picked him up in early June off the heap from the Brewers, who had designated Alexander for assignment. He arrived midgame and pitched three strong innings.<\/p>\n

A 4-10 record with a 4.27 ERA entering play Friday might not scream \u201cgo-to guy,\u201d but Alexander has been one of manager Will Venable\u2019s most reliable arms this season over 38 games and 78 innings. He\u2019s turned it up late in the summer, limiting batters to a .177 average since the break.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always thrown harder in the second half,\u201d said Alexander, who was born in Chicago but mostly grew up in the Dallas area. He\u2019s still got family in Oak Park.<\/p>\n

An 80-mph sweeper has helped keep batters off-balance against Alexander\u2019s 90-mph fastball. \u201cYou just prepare your body everyday to throw.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Tyler <\/picture>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>
Sox reliever Mike Vasil throws out an Angels runner earlier this month in Anaheim, Calif.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption>
\n

Jayne Kamin-Oncea\/AP Photos<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The 6-foot-5 Boston native Vasil (5-3, 2.53) brings a little more velocity with 94-mph four-seamers and sinkers, giving the Sox more than they could\u2019ve expected for the Rule 5 Draft pick whom they claimed off waivers late in spring training.<\/p>\n

Vasil has also shown a fire on the mound that has raised the energy in the clubhouse, and he keeps a Batman mask in his locker, in case there was any doubt of his superhero aspirations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to think most of the times I take the mound, it\u2019s a Batman situation,\u201d Vasil said. \u201cIt\u2019s not like we\u2019re just drawing any innings. We\u2019re going out in tough situations, high leverage, whatever it is, and giving length. Any time that happens, it\u2019s awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Alexander and Vasil are relishing ever-evolving roles, Venable is grateful to know what he\u2019s getting when he calls for either one of the versatile relievers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure that you could look at two guys and their roles that have helped us more than they have,\u201d Venable said. \u201cTo be flexible enough coming out of the bullpen in short stints, then in longer stints, and to do it with the type of quality that they\u2019ve been doing, it\u2019s made all the difference for us to be able to navigate different parts of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s especially important in the final two months of the season with starters Shane Smith, Davis Martin and Sean Burke approaching or eclipsing career highs in innings pitched.<\/p>\n

The whole bullpen helped carry the Sox to a .500 record in 24 games since the break, with an overall 2.84 ERA that marked the third-best in MLB. They were holding opponents to a .204 average from July 18 through Thursday, with 111 strikeouts that were good for second-most in the majors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just kind of in a nice groove,\u201d Alexander said. \u201cOne guy building off the other \u2014 one guy throws well, the next guy wants to throw well. We\u2019re just pitching how we always pitch and it\u2019s going our way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From long relief to spot starts and save situations, Alexander and Vasil are carrying a surprisingly good Sox pen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":78471,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nTyler Alexander, Mike Vasil bulking up White Sox\u2019 sturdy second-half bullpen - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=78470\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tyler Alexander, Mike Vasil bulking up White Sox\u2019 sturdy second-half bullpen - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From long relief to spot starts and save situations, Alexander and Vasil are carrying a surprisingly good Sox pen.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=78470\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-16T02:01:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/avtvip-85-3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=78470\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=78470\",\"name\":\"Tyler Alexander, Mike Vasil bulking up White Sox\u2019 sturdy second-half bullpen - 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