Red Sox: Brandon Workman is the most reliable reliever on the team
The Boston Red Sox haven’t had the most reliable bullpen in 2019, but when Brandon Workman enters the game that all changes for the better.
The bullpen has been the Achilles’ heel of the Red Sox this entire season even though it looks like help may be on the way. With their top guys from last year losing their mojo due to heavy workloads and lack of rest one man has stepped up huge. Brandon Workman has become the most reliable arm in the pen and he proved that once again last night.
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We all know that the pitching has been atrocious this year. Early on when the starters couldn’t get it done the relievers saved the day. When the tables turned and the bullpen began t crash it was the starters that put the weight on their shoulders. And now as we’re entrenched in the second half of the season and both aspects of the pitching are rocky Brandon Workman is the one constant.
Workman has been quietly putting together the best season of his career. Yeah, we all know how good he is when he’s on the mound but outside of Red Sox Nation, there isn’t even a whisper of his name. He got the call last night against Toronto and wound up throwing 45 pitches to get the final 5-outs of the game. A heavy night of work for a reliever but Workman was up to the task.
Workman is making the most of every chance that he’s being given. His insane 8-1 record with 5 saves is proof of that. He’s also carrying a tight 1.84 ERA with a 62/30 K/BB ratio. Wildy impressive stuff for a guy that gets little to no shine from the rest of the league. He’s also inherited 11 runners this season and left 10 of them standing on the base paths.
It’s not all rainbows and sunshine though as he does carry 4 blown saves to his name, even though that stat can be incredibly murky. With Ryan Brasier being optioned back to the minors and Nathan Eovaldi still not 100%, Workman seems like the guy at the moment. And with the year that he’s having that is perfectly fine with me.
Alex Cora had nothing but positive things to say about Workman after the efforts he put forth last night against the Jays. It’s pretty clear that the Red Sox skipper sees the value in Workman and what he offers this team on a daily basis.
"“He’s been outstanding this whole season. I saw a stat the other day comparing him to other relievers in the league and he’s one of the top relievers in the league too. We always talk about Rafael (Devers) and Christian and Xander about how they deserve to be All Stars. I think Work was the other one that should be in Cleveland.”"
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This has been a season of massive ups and downs for the Red Sox but Brandon Workman has been a consistent positive for this team. The Sox find themselves 9.5 games back in the AL East and 3.0 games back in the Wild Card and they have some serious work to do. But their upcoming schedule is riddled with AL East matchups and with Workman as automatic as he is, those deficits will crumble.