Boston Red Sox: Time to let go of Junichi Tazawa
By Tyler Mason
With former fan favorite Junichi Tazawa struggling for months now, it’s time for the Boston Red Sox to part ways with him.
Boston Red Sox reliever Junichi Tazawa is struggling, to say the least. It’s simple to say and easy to prove.
Just look at his numbers, starting with his career-worst 4.79 ERA. He has given up 22 earned runs in 44.1 innings pitched so far this season (he gave up 20 earned runs in 63 innings pitched just two years ago with the Red Sox).
But who’s to blame here? Obviously it’s tough to blame anyone but Tazawa after his appearance where he gave up 3 runs without recording an out en route to a loss to the Detroit Tigers, but could this recent struggle on the mound be because he has been overworked?
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You have to admit that it seemed like manager John Farrell was using Tazawa almost every day for the past three seasons. Tazawa appeared in 71 games in both the 2013 and 2014 seasons. He was on his way to meet the same amount of appearances in 2015, but it came to the point where the injury bug eventually caught up to him and the Sox had to put him on the DL for the last few weeks of the season.
What I am getting at is that this could have been avoided if Farrell used Tazawa correctly. I understand he was a shutdown guy in the late innings out of the ‘pen. From 2014-2015, he was ranked as the 15th best reliever in the AL, by FIP. But you need to give him a break every now and then. If he did that, then we may not be in this situation and perhaps see better numbers from Tazawa.
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This also explains why his velocity has decreased dramatically during the past three seasons. From 2014-2015, you would see Tazawa reach up to 96 MPH when he had to. Nowadays, he’s averaging about 93 MPH. It’s not like he can’t tell the difference. In the span of those two seasons, Tazawa threw his fastball 62 percent of the time. But this year, the percentage has decreased to 47.8 percent.
You can also say the exact same thing for former closer, Koji Uehara. He appeared in more games than Tazawa did in 2013 (73) and then appeared in 63 games the following year. Although the results were great to watch, the outcome of overusing a pitcher was shown when Koji was placed on the DL and missed the last two months of the 2015 season. And now he could be missing the rest of the 2016 season with a right pectoral strain.
These decisions Farrell made years ago are beginning to haunt him because not one, but two key relievers could be just as effective today if they were used properly in the past.
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I think it’s time to part ways ways with Tazawa and try to find another reliever (preferably someone who won’t blow a two run lead in the 8th or maybe record an out at least). We are at the point now where every game is big for the Red Sox and they can’t have someone wasting a roster spot that won’t produce.