Red Sox: Who claims the closer seat?

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The Boston Red Sox entered the season with a plan for their bullpen, only to watch it unravel in the early stages of the season’s second half.

Dave Dombrowski did a masterful job of revamping a bullpen that was one of the worst in the league a year ago, acquiring closer Craig Kimbrel from the San Diego Padres and setup man Carson Smith from the Seattle Mariners in separate deals. They were to join incumbent closer Koji Uehara and Junichi Tazawa to provide the Red Sox with a formidable core of late-inning relievers. On paper this appeared to be one of the strongest bullpens in baseball, but this strength proved to be as flimsy as that sheet of paper, as all four pitchers are currently on the disabled list.

Despite the staggering number of injuries that the bullpen has sustained, Dombrowski does not foresee another trade as a necessity, telling the Boston Herald’s Michael Silverman, “At this point, we are comfortable with our internal options.”

When freshly acquired starter Drew Pomeranz was knocked out in the fourth inning in his debut Wednesday night, fans half expected Dombrowski to trade for a reliever mid-game to provide insurance for a bullpen that would need to carry the Red Sox through the final six frames. Then again, the early returns of Dombrowski’s trades since taking over the front office for the Red Sox have been rather hit-or-miss, so perhaps fans are a a bit gun-shy about pulling for him to surrender another valuable prospect to plug a hole he was supposed to have already fixed with prior dealings.

So assuming another trade isn’t on the horizon, while holding out hope that we aren’t heading for the dreaded “closer-by-committee” approach, which of these internal options will step up to fill the 9th inning void until either Kimbrel or Uehara can return from injury?

Next: Ziegler

Brad Ziegler

The 36-year old veteran has been one trade that has worked out well for Boston, particularly given the timing of it. The Red Sox acquired Ziegler just before Kimbrel was placed on the disabled list with a knee injury expected to sideline him 3-6 weeks.

Joe Kelly

Kelly became somewhat of an afterthought following several failed attempts to stick in the rotation, but he has been reborn as a lights out reliever in his latest stint in the minor leagues.

Granted it’s been a minuscule sample size, half of which took place in Low-A Lowell, but the results have been promising nonetheless. 8 innings over 6 appearances, allowing 2 earned runs on 7 hits, while piling up 13 strikeouts across two minor league levels.

Since his promotion to Triple-A Pawtucket, Kelly has been dominant, tossing 4 shutout innings of relief while allowing only 4 base runners and striking out 8.

Kelly has always been praised for having great “stuff” on the mound, much of which stems from a blazing fastball that can reach the upper 90’s. Unfortunately, his limited repertoire made navigating lineups multiple times difficult, preventing him from finding consistent success as a starter.

A move to the bullpen has seemed inevitable for a while, which is a fate the Red Sox finally seem cognizant of. When used for only an inning or two, his unreliable secondary pitches become less problematic. He can rely heavily on his fastball, which he can dial up to the maximum level without the concern of pacing himself.

If the Red Sox look for a power pitcher as the temporary option to fill in as the closer, they may not have a better in-house option than Kelly.

Next: Buchholz

Clay Buchholz

Wednesday night’s win over the San Francisco Giants serves to further the mystery of what role Buchholz plays on this Red Sox team.

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Once the starter was knocked out after only 3+ inning of work, one would naturally assume the long man in the bullpen would be used for multiple innings. Isn’t that supposed to be Buchholz’s job? It makes sense to avoid bringing him in for the middle of the fourth inning once Pomeranz exited, but beginning in the fifth, isn’t it his game?

Buchholz was up working in the bullpen during the later innings, but never actually made it into the game. Instead, manager John Farrell burned through three different relievers to get through the next two innings, then used Matt Barnes for a season-high three innings before handing it off to Ziegler to protect a four run lead in the ninth.

If Farrell refused to turn to Buchholz in a spot tailor made for how he was intended to be used as a reliever, it leaves us to wonder if he has a role on this team at all. If not, he’s merely wasting a roster spot.

If Buchholz does somehow manage to win back the trust of his manager, consider him a dark-horse candidate to serve as the temporary closer. One of his biggest issues has always been that he seems to lose focus on the mound in the middle of the game, but the pressure of a save situation could be what he needs to lock in on every pitch. We’ve seen other failed starters thrive in the ninth inning role, so why not Buchholz? They’ve essentially tried everything else with him, so perhaps it’s worth a shot.

Next: Best of the Rest

Aug 8, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Junichi Tazawa (36) pitches in the seventh inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /

Best of the Rest

If none of those options seem appealing to you, what else is left to choose from?

Tazawa could return as early as Friday from the shoulder injury that has sidelined him for most of this month, but he’s hardly an ideal choice to be the closer. He has collected four career saves, including three last year, but he’s never looked comfortable in that role and owns a career 4.18 ERA in save situations.

Robbie Ross, Jr. collected 6 saves in as many chances down the stretch last September, posting a modest 3.86 ERA for the month after taking over for the injured Uehara. Farrell could turn to him again, but he’s been less productive this year, posting a 4.36 ERA. However, that number if heavily influenced by the infamous 21-2 shellacking at the hands of the Los Angeles Angels earlier this month. Take away that disaster and he has a much more appealing 2.75 ERA. On the other hand, don’t most pitchers look better when you ignore their worst outing?

Heath Hembree has been arguably the team’s best reliever, producing a 2.19 ERA through 37 innings, but he has no experience as a closer. His 3.20 FIP also suggests he hasn’t been quite as effective as his sparkling ERA suggests and he allows quite a few base runners.

Tommy Layne is best served as a lefty specialist, Matt Barnes is valuable for his multi-inning efforts and everyone else in the bullpen has spent the bulk of the season shuttling between Boston and Pawtucket.

Next: Breaking down Drew Pomeranz

The Red Sox are in a tight spot, but Ziegler still seems to be the best option based on experience, even if it wasn’t the role he was acquired for. If Farrell won’t commit to him as the new closer, perhaps he’ll play the match up game, while bidding his time for one of his more trusted relievers to make their way back from the disabled list.

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