Burke Badenhop will be missed.
The Red Sox have apparently chosen their bullpen course for 2015 and Badenhop appears on the outside looking in. Craig Breslow was brought back after a dismal 2014 and Heath Hembree, Matt Barnes and Brandon Workman all appear in the mix along with new hire Anthony Varvaro.
Badenhop was a proponent of self-evaluation using advance metrics to examine his pitching approach. Badenhop, somewhat of a financial guru, co-authored a book on finance. Always an honest and excellent interview he will certainly be missed by media and fans who got a wee bit more than the usual a player will toss out.
Badenhop was durable going 70.2 frames in 70 games with an excellent GB rate of 61% – a point that seems quite desirable to the current pitching model the team has embraced. Toss in a nice 2.29 ERA and allowing one home run during the season and you have a pitcher that has some positives, but digging deeper there are some negatives.
Start with a BABIP of .304. An FIP of 3.08 and an xFIP of 3.64 – both exceptionally high for a pitcher with a 2.29 ERA. For his career the ERA of 3.71 is more in line with career FIP of 3.56 and xFIP of 3.66. What Badenhop represents is a good relief option for someone. A reliever who can do a respectable seventh or eighth inning be it in Boston or elsewhere.
Wherever Badenhop lands I wish him well.