The times are certainly a-changin’ in baseball. In a game where the amount and value of huge contracts is increasing rapidly, it is becoming ever more common to pay millions of dollars over a multi-year pact and receive only mediocre results. This makes it even better when a player signs a relatively small contract over one year, and delivers with a phenomenal year. However, that is exactly what relief pitcher Koji Uehara is doing right now for the Boston Red Sox.
Apr 11, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Koji Uehara (19) throws a pitch against the Baltimore Orioles during the seventh inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Just by looking at his statistics, one could tell that Uehara was an excellent pitcher. He has a career 2.83 ERA in 216 innings, and had a ridiculous 1.75 ERA and even more ridiculous 14.3 K:BB ratio with the Rangers in 2012. The only reasons that he signed just a 1 year/$4.25 million contract in December were that Uehara is getting up there in age (he is 38 years old) and missed some time with a lat injury in 2012. However, neither of those factors have kept Uehara from looking absolutely dominant through his first 5 games with the Red Sox.
Through those first 5 games, he has thrown 4.1 innings, allowing 1 hit and 2 walks while striking out 4 batters. Unfortunately, that one hit did cost the Red Sox the game in the rubber-match against the Orioles; he more than made up for that by seemingly easily rescuing the Red Sox from a two-on, no-out jam in yesterday’s 2-1 win.
It’s difficult to predict such dominance from a soft-tossing, 38 year-old Japanese pitcher but Uehara has done everything expected of him. Since moving to relief, he has been great and that doesn’t look to stop anytime soon. The 1 year/$4.25 million contract that he signed looks to me like not only the biggest bargain of the Red Sox’ offseason, but the biggest bargain in all of baseball.