Zach Putnam

Putnam was projected to be one of the more prominent arms in the White Sox bullpen, and he looked the part during the first part of the season. By late June, the right-hander held a 2.30 ERA thanks to posting scoreless outings in 11 of his last 12 appearances, while also striking out batters at a solid rate of 9.9 batters per nine innings. Things went south after that, however, as he missed time with ulnar neuritis and ultimately had surgery to remove a bone fragment in his elbow. Thankfully, no ligament damage was found, so he should be ready to go for spring training. Putnam doesn't light up the radar gun, but his split-finger fastball has allowed him to carve out a steady, important role in Chicago's bullpen. As long as he doesn't feel any ill effects from his elbow injury, the 29-year-old will likely be one of the more trusted arms in the White Sox arsenal, although he is at least a couple injuries/trades away from vying for saves.

Putnam had been a revelation in the White Sox’s bullpen in 2014, but he took a step back in 2015. He relied increasingly on his above-average splitter, but his other pitches, while maintaining much of the same velocity, were somewhat below-average. He struck out a career-best 30 percent of batters faced, but he also walked 11 percent and allowed too many line drives in front of a poor defense. He should rebound a bit if he can get his HR/FB to regress a bit from its lofty 17.5 percent in 2015, and he should remain one of the team’s most-used relievers in 2016.

Putnam was a workhorse in the White Sox's bullpen. Like many modern short relievers, he closed the year with a sub-2.00 ERA, but he did so without the typical high-90s velocity. In fact, he did it without mid-90s velocity. Instead, he relies upon a big split fastball that averages just 85 mph and results in many groundballs. He should serve as one of the club's top right-handed setup man to begin 2014 and could be an option for the closer role should anything happen to David Robertson.

Putnam had a serviceable year at Triple-A Columbus (1.217 WHIP, 3.65 ERA, 8.87 K/9IP in 44 relief appearances) and figures to get a crack at landing a spot in the Tribe bullpen this spring. The 6-foot-2 right-hander features a fastball and nasty splitter as well as a developing slider. He'd be better served getting consistent work out of the bullpen at Triple-A, but should see some time with the Indians this year even if he doesn't head north with the club in April.