CHICAGO -- Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura has embraced the pressure of the pennant race with a fearless approach. The rookie dugout boss has had to be on top of his game due to a sudden failure of the rotation, with the Sox having just one quality start in the past 11 games. Jose Quintana was the latest to struggle, lasting just 1 1/3 innings against the Twins on Tuesday.

“Because it is September we have enough quality guys (because of the expanded roster) to use them,” Ventura said.

Ventura has adjusted quickly to using his rookies call-ups in crucial matchups. Rosters expanded on Saturday, allowing managers the luxury of having three or four extra bullpen pitchers.


“Everybody is tired,” Ventura said referring to his ineffective starting rotation. “We are where we are. If they look like they are ready to come out, you take them out.”

The White Sox now have 10 rookies on their pitching staff, including eight in their bullpen, with the call up of Dylan Axelrod on Tuesday.

From Ventura’s standpoint, the pace of September baseball increases with the importance of each game.

“It does go faster because all of the moves you have to make,” Ventura said. “The matchups that use to come later now can change by every at-bat, because of the number of guys you have and the way the game is going.”

Ventura has been ahead of the curve for a first-year manager in part because of his two pitching gurus (Don Cooper and Juan Nieves) and bench coach Mark Parent.

“We are talking it through all of the time, so I don’t feel like I am behind at any point,” said Ventura, who, along with the Baltimore Orioles’ Buck Showalter and the Oakland Athletic’s Bob Melvin, will be among the top picks for American League Manager of the Year honors.

Enjoying the job with a playoff ramification almost every night can be a relative experience.

“The enjoyment is about starting out in spring training and where you were at then and where you are now,” Ventura said. “Part of this is a season-long thing. That is the enjoyable part. You don’t know how it is going to end up. It is a fun part of the year to see it at the beginning and all the way through.”