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Pen on a Budget: Breaking Down the 2025 White Sox Bullpen

CHICAGO – If PJ Bishop’s rotation is about upside and development, his bullpen is about options. No household names, no big contracts, and not a single reliever rated above the mid-40s on the OOTP scale – but there’s structure, intent, and just enough juice to make late innings interesting instead of inevitable.

The eight-man group:

CL Sean Burke (R) – closer

LHP Brandon Eisert – setup / secondary closer

RHP Penn Murfee – setup

RHP Justin Anderson – middle relief

RHP Justin Dunn – long relief

RHP Mike Clevinger – long relief

RHP Bryse Wilson – long relief

LHP Jared Shuster – lefty specialist

For a team coming off 121 losses, that’s a real bullpen, not just eight guys with RPs next to their names.

The Back End: Sean Burke’s Job to Lose

The ninth inning belongs to Sean Burke, a 25-year-old righty who looks like a classic modern closer in the making.

Burke brings 95–97 mph heat, a 70-grade fastball with 60/60 breaking stuff behind it, and above-average whiff potential to both sides of the plate. His stuff grades out in the mid-50s with room to grow, and the extreme flyball profile plays interestingly in a park that can be punishing if hitters get the ball in the air.

This is a developmental closer, not a finished one: control sits a tick below the rest of his profile, so there will be nights where the zone feels smaller than it should. But if Bishop is serious about building something from the ground up, giving Burke the ball in the ninth from Day 1 is exactly the kind of bet he has to make.

The Setup Duo: Eisert & Murfee

In front of Burke, Bishop leans on a right-left setup combo:

LHP Brandon Eisert – 8th or later, secondary closer

RHP Penn Murfee – 7th or later

Eisert is the more polished of the two. The 27-year-old lefty sits 90–92 mph with a full set of 50s across stuff, movement, and control, but what really pops are the splits: he’s nasty vs. lefties, grading out in the mid-50s there while holding his own against right-handers. Bishop has him tagged as the emergency closer, and it’s easy to see why – he’s the one arm in this pen who looks truly comfortable pitching any pocket of the lineup.

Murfee, 30, is the side of the bridge you hit first. He doesn’t overpower anyone (89–91 mph) but lives on command and deception, with balanced 50 movement and enough control to stay out of self-inflicted trouble. On a staff that will walk its share of hitters, that matters.

The plan is simple: Murfee in the seventh, Eisert in the eighth, Burke in the ninth whenever the Sox actually hand over a late lead.

The Fireman: Justin Anderson

If there’s one reliever fans may fall in love with early, it’s Justin Anderson.

Anderson is 32, right-handed, and throws like he’s late for something. The fastball lives 96–98, backed by a sharp slider and a cutter that give him three legitimate weapons (60/60 fastball and slider, 50 cutter). His movement and control lag behind the stuff – this is not a command artist – but as a pure “come in and blow the inning up in the hitter’s face” option, he’s perfect.

Bishop has him slotted in middle relief with normal usage and mop-up as a secondary role, but that feels more like a starting point than a ceiling. If Burke struggles or the Sox find themselves needing outs in the sixth with traffic on the bases, Anderson is the obvious “hit the panic button” arm.

The Long Men: Clevinger, Wilson & Dunn

Because Bishop doesn’t allow starters to pitch in relief, he’s gone heavy on multi-inning options:

Mike Clevinger (R) – veteran long man

Bryse Wilson (R) – swingman type

Justin Dunn (R) – depth long man

Clevinger, now 34, is the name fans know best. In OOTP terms he’s a 40 overall with average-ish 45 stuff/movement and 50 control, still sitting 93–95 mph with enough pitchability to turn a lineup once or twice in an emergency spot start or early hook scenario. For a club still at the “try to avoid bullpen games by May” stage, that’s valuable.

Bryse Wilson adds a slightly different flavor. He brings 94–96 mph velocity with solid control and a bit more ground-ball tendency. His stuff isn’t overwhelming, but in games where the Sox are trailing by a run or two, Wilson is the kind of arm who can soak three innings and keep things respectable.

Justin Dunn rounds out the trio as the lowest-rated of the bunch but with enough fastball/slider to justify his spot. He’s more pure depth than weapon right now – the guy who protects the rest of the staff when a starter gets knocked out in the second.

None of these three is glamorous, but on a rebuilding team, eating ugly innings so other arms can stay fresh is a job, too.

The Lone Wolf Lefty: Jared Shuster

Finally there’s Jared Shuster, the designated lefty specialist.

Bishop has him set to work only vs. left-handed hitters, leaning on a 94–96 mph fastball and a solid change/slider mix. The overall rating doesn’t jump off the page, but the role does: when an opponent stacks lefties in the middle of the order or a big left-handed bat comes up with men on, Shuster is the matchup card Bishop will play.

In a league that’s constantly trimming LOOGYs, Shuster’s job security will come down to how often he can sneak through an extra righty and still get to the dugout with a zero.

How It Fits Bishop’s Philosophy

For a “ramen budget” bullpen, Bishop has at least given it an identity:

Power at the top (Burke, Anderson, Wilson)

Handedness options late (Eisert from the left, Murfee from the right)

Multiple long men to protect young starters

A defined matchup lefty in Shuster

It’s not the kind of bullpen that shortens games to six innings, not yet. But it is organized, purposeful, and aligned with what Bishop keeps saying publicly: use every tool available, squeeze value out of margins, and live with the mistakes that come from giving real roles to imperfect players.

If the White Sox surprise anyone in 2025, it’ll be because these eight arms turn late-inning chaos into something closer to a plan. For a franchise trying to climb out of the cellar, that alone would feel like progress.