Free agent ventures
A left-hander who is just as effective against right-handers has value and that is 32-year-old Tony Sipp (3-4, 1.99). Sipp is not over powering and just barely touches 90 MPH, but .190 RHB and .227 LHB shows his value for when a manager wished to play percentages. Sipp relies on three pitches – a fastball, slider and change. In 60 games for Houston Sipp pitched 54 innings with a K/9 of 10.27% while issuing 15 walks.
Darren O’Day (6-2, 1.52) knows the AL east since he has worked out of the Orioles bullpen for the last four seasons. The 33-year-old right-hander has been a mainstay for the Orioles ‘pen – ranked first in MLB with a 6.1 WAR. O’Day can handle both right-handed hitters (.192) and left-handed batters (.210), so O’Day can be used in any situation. A BB/9 of 1.9 and a K/9 of 11.3 is excellent. Expect O’Day to get a healthy contract somewhere and maybe that somewhere will be Boston? O’Day would provide an excellent bridge to a closer. Career 1.25 ERA at Fenway Park.
Tyler Clippard (5-4, 2.92) can do just about any bullpen duty requested. The 30-year-old right-hander appeared in 69 games for Oakland and the Mets, pitching 71 innings and allowing only 49 hits.
Joakim Soria (3-1, 2.53, 24 SV) is throwing as hard (92.1 MPH) as he did in his pre Tommy John surgery salad days in Kansas City. Soria, now 31-years-old, no longer relies extensively on his fastball (54.2%), but mixes it up with several other pitches.
Sources: Baseball-reference/Sox Propects/Fangraphs
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