​The Chicago White Sox’s strength for most of this crazy season has been their bullpen depth, with Grant Taylor, Bryan Hudson, Sean Newcomb and now Hagen Smith as their main leverage guys.And if they’re going to survive this late-September stretch run and get into the postseason, the bullpen is probably going to have to continue to do the heavy lifting.Whether fans like it or not, it’ll probably be that way in October as well — if the Sox make it.Manager Will Venable hasn’t diverged from his early-season strategy of using his relievers early and often and employing openers on a semiregular basis.Chicago baseball report: Anything goes for Cubs pitching staff — and Sox are fighting for their playoff livesThat led to the Sox leading the majors in relief innings this season and being on a pace to finish with 764 innings, which would rank third in major-league history. And the relievers — including “bulk” pitchers — have thrown a league-high 82.2 innings in 16 September games compared with only 56 innings for the starters.Four of those September starts have employed openers for Erick Fedde, Luis Castillo, Sean Burke and Davis Martin, making them bulk pitchers that day. No Sox starter has lasted more than 5 2/3 innings this month heading into Friday’s game against the Detroit Tigers, while starters Anthony Kay and Fedde were pulled after 4 and 4 2/3 innings, respectively, Wednesday and Thursday despite both pitching effectively.This is the time of year the prime starters separate themselves from average ones. The Sox need only look in the opposite dugout for an example. Tigers starter Justin Verlander was 54-24 with a 3.02 ERA in regular-season games in September/October, and his managers usually had to pry the ball from him in late-season starts.But Venable doesn’t believe in changing his philosophy, even if that day’s starter has proved to be effective.Has anyone pushed back?“We have healthy discussions all the time to make sure we’re on the same page with stuff,” Venable said Friday. “And those go differently. There’s a wide range of dynamics involved in player communication that looks differently, but it’s been positive here. We haven’t had any issues, if that’s what you’re asking.”Healthy discussions? Does anyone lobby for more leeway during starts?“No, no,” he said. “We talk about roles and talk about when those roles change, try to give them as much clarity as possible. We’ve been open about everything we’re trying to do. We discuss it here and there, but we haven’t had people come in and (start) lobbying for different roles.”It’s probably a sign of the times. Veterans such as Fedde, Kay and Martin might be fine with it because the bullpen has generally been solid, and Burke is too young to complain. But for old-school baseball guys who enjoy watching starters show their stuff in a pennant race, it’d be nice to see the Sox starters get a longer leash down the stretch.Wizard’s backM