State Of The Red Sox Part 4: The Bullpen
FORT MYERS, FL (CBS) - The Red Sox bullpen has been one of the team's strength throughout the Theo Epstein regime. What makes it all the more interesting is that Theo says it's difficult to gauge relievers year-to-year. Last year, it was not up to par. This year.....we'll see.
Closer
2010 was not Jonathan Papelbon's best season by any means, but it wasn't horrific. The problem with Pap has been that the bar had been set so high....by him.
In 65 games, Papelbon was 5-7 with 35 saves and a 3.90 ERA. The 35 saves were 8th best in the American League. However, the losses and the ERA were career worst. And, he walked a career-high 28 batters.
Not bad, but compare that to 2009 and 2008:
In '08, Pap was 5-4 with 41 saves and a 2.34 ERA. He worked 69-1/3rd innings, giving up 58 hits, 8 walks while striking out 77.
In '09, Pap was 1-1 with 38 saves and a 1.85 ERA. He worked 68 innings, giving up 54 hits, 24 walks while striking out 76.
Papelbon will once again be highly motivated coming into a season. Following 2010, he had the playoff loss and blown save against the Angels, but this time he's got a lot on the line. He'll be a free agent at the end of the year. and if he's lights out, he'll get a good contract somewhere. If he struggles, who knows.
Right-handers
Let's start with Daniel Bard. The hard-throwing 25-year-old was a weapon all last season. While some fans screamed for him to take over as the team's closer, Bard went out and was one of the best set-up men in the business. The second year right-hander worked in 73 games going 1-2 with a 1.93 ERA with three saves. He worked 74.2 innings, giving up only 45 hits while walking 30 and striking out 76.
He still appears to be a "closer-in-waiting", but Theo and Tito love him so much in that set-up role. In fact, if Pap struggles this season, Bobby Jenks could end up closing and not Bard.
Meanwhile, gone are Manny Delcarmen, Ramon Ramirez, Ramon A. Ramirez, Boof Bonser, and Joe Nelson. Arriving are veterans Dan Wheeler and Bobby Jenks. Tim Wakefield, Scott Atchison, Alfredo Aceves, Matt Fox, Matt Albers, Jason Bergman, Tony Pena Jr, are all others who will be on the big league club roster or could possibly make the roster at various points in the 2011 season.
Bobby Jenks was a guy the Sox liked because he was willing to ink a one year deal. The former White Sox closer also agreed to be a set-up man after struggling last season, going 1-3 with 27 saves and a 4.44 ERA. If Papelbon leaves after this season or falters at all during the season, the Sox know they have a possible option in the big right-hander.
Veteran Dan Wheeler comes from Tampa Bay and Sox fans are quite familiar with him. Wheeler was 2-4 with a 3.35 ERA and 3 saves for the Rays last year. The big thing is that he's durable. The Warwick, Rhode Island native appeared in 64 games last year while tossing 48.1 innings. He will be a key 6-thru-8 inning guy all year-long.
Scott Atchison is a guy the Sox like a lot. He was one of Japan's best set-up relievers in 2009 after pitching in 53 games from 2004-2007 with Seattle and San Francisco. The 36-year-old then came in last year and did it all...from spot starting to pitching multiple innings. He went 2-3 with a 4.50 ERA, but threw 60 innings. He was a valuable piece in a disappointing 'pen last season.
Alfredo Aceves was a late signing by the Sox, but he could pay off if healthy. Over the course of the last three seasons with the NY Yankees, Aceves went 14-1 with a 3.21 ERA. In 126 innings he gave up only 104 hits while walking 30 and striking out 87.
Left-handers
From the left side the Sox feature Hideki Okajima, Felix Doubront, Rich Hill, Andrew Miller, Dennys Reyes, and Randy Williams.
Doubront has a chance to be the number-one lefty option. He went 2-2 with a 4.32 ERA in 12 appearances with Boston. He'll be groomed as a starter this spring with an eye on being ready for his role in the bullpen. His stuff is good enough, but it's just a matter of him adapting.
Hideki Okajima is the wild card this spring. Okie struggled last year after being one of the best in the business for his first three seasons in Boston. In 56 appearances he went 4-4 with a 4.50 ERA.
Milton lefty Rich Hill could also jump in and grab a spot in the pen. Hill, who will throw sidearm, is 22-20 with a 4.82 ERA over six big league seasons with the Cubs, Orioles, and Red Sox.
Meanwhile, 6'7" Andrew Miller is a project as the one-time hotshot prospect tries to find the delivery he had when he dominated hitters at the University of North Carolina when he was a teammate of Daniel Bard.
And late signee Dennys Reyes could help. The big lefty was 3-1 with a 3.55 ERA and 1 save in 59 appearances with the St Louis Cardinals last year.
Synopsis
The bullpen has big time questions everywhere, minus Daniel Bard, who is cemented in that set-up man, 7th-8th inning role. Beyond that, having Papelbon return to his dominating form would be a great start for this bullpen. If he's on... then the rest could follow. Rich Hill and Dennys Reyes could be sleepers from the left side while Jenks and Wheeler should be solid.
You just don't know what you'll get each season in the bullpen. If these guys come around, the team could win 100 games. If not, Theo will change on the fly to try to get things right.
Read: State of the Sox Part 1: The Infield
