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Boston Red Sox: Moving forward for 2017

By Rick McNair

Sep 24, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski (left) introduces Mike Hazen (right) as the team
Sep 24, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski (left) introduces Mike Hazen (right) as the team /
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Oct 10, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Joe Kelly (56) delivers a pitch in the sixth inning against the Cleveland Indians during game three of the 2016 ALDS playoff baseball series at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 10, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Joe Kelly (56) delivers a pitch in the sixth inning against the Cleveland Indians during game three of the 2016 ALDS playoff baseball series at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports /

Bullpen

What a ride the bullpen was all season before an outstanding September. Overall the AL rankings had Boston at a respectable sixth place fWAR of 4.8. That strong finish puts some hope in the air for the spring.

Sifting through the numbers what takes a nip out of my jugular is next to last is BB/9 of 3.69. No imagination when you saw the proliferation of walks issued especially by Craig Kimbrel. The rest of the statistics were ordinary – WHIP (1.28), xFIP (4.04) and LOB% (75.2) were in the middle of the pack.

The big hurt was not Frank Thomas, but the injury to Carson Smith. The bullpen never really stabilized until Brad Ziegler was brought in to help  the situation. Koji Uehara and another free agent to be Junichi Tazawa were questionable – especially Taz.

Heath Hembree and Matt Barnes have a similar approach with both using an above average fastball, but often having below average results. Fernando Abad performed as expected against lefties, but the occasional right-hand hitter enjoyed feasting off the disappointing Abad.

Robby Scott was pulled off the scrap heap and impressed at Pawtucket and a short stint with Boston. Scott and fellow lefty Robbie Ross could both end up as the lefties of note in the bullpen. The possible glue to hold it together in 2017 could be flame thrower Joe Kelly and his 100MPH heater.

The rest of the bullpen is rather sparse with neither Roenis Elias, nor Noe Ramirez impressing enough to make Red Sox Nation jump with joy when they start warming up.

Closer Kimbrel can go stretches of 10-12 games and be invincible only to have control issues surface and self-destruction. Still – Kimbrel was dominant enough to put a search for a replacement on hold.

The Red Sox will certainly go into the pitching market for additional arms. Ziegler, Uehara, and Tazawa are free agents and all three, or two, or one or none could return. The other key is Smith, who may be back by June. A back in form Smith could certainly provide some late-inning stability.

The success of this bullpen depends upon the starters. Wright, Porcello, and Price have all shown the ability to go deep into games and that certainly lessens the exposure of a funky collection of bullpen arms. The other possible upswing is Kelly, Hembree and Barnes are all capable of multiple innings. The only issue is the quality of those innings.

Warning sign: Walks…walks and still more walks. BB/9 needs to get to 3.0

Prediction: Koji will be back. Kelly will shine.

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