Red Sox reliever Brandon Workman shines bright in otherwise gloomy bullpen

Boston Red Sox reliever Brandon Workman is quietly putting together an excellent season that’s overshadowed by the failure of the bullpen overall.

The Boston Red Sox bullpen has been a lightning rod for criticism this season. Rightfully so, although the blame shouldn’t be cast on everyone. While the bullpen has been a dark pit of despair, Brandon Workman has been a bright light shining through with the best season of his career.

Believe it or not, Workman has been one of the best relievers in baseball. Among relievers with a minimum of 40 innings pitched, Workman ranks 4th in the American League with a 1.70 ERA and third with a 12.33 K/9. He leads the majors in opponent AVG (.102), opponent SLG (.161), and opponent OPS (.418).

Workman has retired the last 10 batters he’s faced stretching back over his last four appearances. He hasn’t allowed a base runner in nearly two weeks and has surrendered only two earned runs since May.

Some will point out that Workman has been one of the biggest culprits behind Boston’s league-leading 18 blown saves, converting only four of his eight opportunities. Fine, although I’ll point out that each of Workman’s blown saves came before the ninth inning and the Red Sox went on to win two of those games. Workman wasn’t even charged with a run in one of those outings. The blown save statistic can be misleading out of context.

The one concern with Workman is an extremely high walk rate. His 6.0 BB/9 is one of the highest in the league and nearly double his career rate. Workman has seen a dramatic rise in strikeout rate this season, going from a tick under a strikeout per inning to an elite level. With that increase in whiffs have come an abundance of free passes.

Workman’s 12.6 swinging-strike percentage is a career-high but he’s throwing pitches in the strike zone at a lower rate. He racks up the strikeouts when he gets hitters to chase but when they lay off those outside pitches it too often leads to a walk.

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The walks are worrisome but Workman rarely allows them to do damage since he doesn’t give up many hits along with them. Opponents are batting a mere .115 against him with runners on base and .135 with runners in scoring position, both of which place him in the top-10 in the league (minimum 9 innings in those scenarios).

This isn’t a vote of confidence that Workman should take over as the full-time closer. Nathan Eovaldi will get a shot to fill that role when he returns, possibly within the next week. Workman’s numbers speak for themselves, indicating he can be a reliable setup option. He can pair with Matt Barnes, who is bound to improve when utilized in the proper setup role and when he isn’t recklessly overworked.

The Red Sox jettisoned the struggling Ryan Brasier on Tuesday and replaced him with electric pitching prospect Darwinzon Hernandez, who was recently converted into a reliever in Pawtucket. Tanner Houck seems to be following the same path and could join him in the big leagues soon to replace one of the other underachieving relievers in this bullpen.

There’s no denying that the bullpen has been a glaring weakness for the Red Sox but that doesn’t mean all their relievers are a lost cause. The infusion of prospects will add depth and the Red Sox may even pull off a trade for a proven reliever if they can squeeze one into their tight budget.  Workman has been a reliable option who can be a building block to a bullpen that should improve down the stretch.