Setup Men
Brandon Workman has been a solid middle reliever for the Red Sox in the last two years since returning from consecutive seasons lost to injury. The Barnes/Brasier combination filling the vacated closer seat has bumped Workman up a bit in the hierarchy and he’s responded to his increased responsibilities by posting a career-best 1.50 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, and 12.5 K/9.
The only concern with Workman is that he’s walked an alarmingly high 14 batters in 18 innings. He’s never been a control artist but his current walk rate would nearly double his career 3.6 BB/0. That trend should reverse itself and we’re starting to see Workman calm down a bit with the walks, issuing only two in his last five appearances. His questionable control suggests his ERA should be much closer to his 2.67 FIP but if that figure ends up being his ERA by the end of the season then the Red Sox will gladly accept it.
The surprise breakout of the bullpen has been Marcus Walden. The right-hander was solid in his first taste of big league action last year but didn’t make enough of an impression to stick around for more than 14 2/3 innings. He split time between the rotation and bullpen during parts of two seasons with Triple-A Pawtucket but the results showed little that would have predicted his success this season. Walden is thriving, posting a 1.61 ERA, 0.76 WHIP, 10.5 K/9, and 2.0 BB/9. Cora hasn’t been shy about setting Walden loose for multiple frames and he leads Red Sox relievers with 22 1/3 innings.
The lack of the track record may leave some hesitant to include Walden in the circle of trust but he’s done nothing to warrant that skepticism this season. Walden is in the circle until he proves he no longer belongs.