Boston Red Sox bullpen rankings: Top 21
By Rick McNair
Number 3
Boston Stats (1962-1966): 49-34 W/L, 286 G, 557.1 IP, 420 H, 213 BB, 627 K, 2.65 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 102 SV.
In 1962 “The Monster” led the league in saves, games and terror. The imposing Radatz would have a side-armed fastball and he would demonstrate no hesitation in determining that he was master of the inside corner. In 123.2 innings Radatz struck out 144. Radatz led all AL relievers in FIP, WAR, K/9 and innings pitched.
In 1963, Radatz finished with a 15-6 record, a 1.97 and again led relievers in WAR and FIP. The W/L record is indicative of the managerial philosophy of that era. Radatz pitched eight innings in one game, seven in another and multiple innings were the norm and not the exception. The chant for Radatz would usually start as early as the fourth inning.
1964 was the penultimate for Radatz as he appeared 79 games and threw a staggering 157 innings in going 16-9 while leading the AL in saves. The trademark multiple innings remained, as did leadership in most significant statistical categories, including saves.
In 1965, the star faded for Radatz as quickly as it had risen. The fastball lost some of its intimidating velocity and K/9 “shrunk” to 8.76. Other metrics increased dramatically and Radatz lost more games than he won. The only really positive was the light hitting Radatz hit his only MLB home run that season in Kansas City.
After 1965, Radatz hung around MLB until 1969 and never came close to those three magnificent seasons. Radatz remained active in the Boston area often appearing on talk shows until he died a few years ago as the result of a tragic fall.
Number 2
Boston Stats (2013-15): 12-10 W/L, 180 G, 179 IP, 112 H, 26 BB, 228 K, 1.86 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, 72 SV.
Signed on as a set-up reliever the soon to be 41-year-old right-hander will return to that role now that Craig Kimbrel has been signed. Koji slowly became the last man standing in the bullpen in 2013 as the Red Sox searched for someone to close out games and responded with a remarkable performance.
In 2015, Koji’s season was viewed as somewhat of a slippage, but he had only two blown saves and continued his ability to keep runners off base. Koji’s three years in Boston have produced a BB/9 of 1.3 while posting an 11.5 K/9. The WHIP is microscopic.
Uehara is signed for the 2016 season and provides some exceptional flexibility for the bullpen. The assumption is Uehara is fully recovered from a broken wrist and with Carson Smith and Junichi Tazawa will provide the dual threat of quality and depth to the bullpen.