The Boston Red Sox bullpen has been exceptional since the All-Star break and they own the best collective ERA in the majors this month.
The narrative casting a dark cloud over the Boston Red Sox throughout the first half of the season was a much-maligned bullpen that was incapable of securing a lead. Fans wanted to run Dave Dombrowski out of town for his incompetence in building a stable core of relief pitchers. It took a while to find a suitable number of trustworthy arms but Boston has finally assembled a strong bullpen.
The Red Sox bullpen ranks second in the American League and fourth in the majors with a 3.65 ERA in the second half of the season. Their 3.54 FIP is third in the majors since the break and suggests they’ve been slightly better than their collective ERA suggests. Red Sox relievers also lead the majors in this span with a 10.41 K/9.
The results have been even better in August. Boston has the best bullpen in the majors this month with a 2.76 ERA and a 3.51 FIP that ranks second in the league.
“But what about the blown saves?!”
True, Boston still ranks second in the majors with 24 blown saves this season. Four of them have come this month, which is tied for only ninth in the majors during that span yet shows the problem hasn’t completely gone away.
It’s a problem that has been taken a bit out of context though. Only one of those “blown saves” occurred in the ninth inning or later. One of them was charged to Nathan Eovaldi, who is now back in the starting rotation.
Brandon Workman has emerged as the team’s new closer and successfully converted four of five opportunities this month. The one chance he failed to convert, Workman ended up getting credited with a win when the Red Sox rallied back in the next frame.
Boston actually won three of the last four games in which they blew a save and their bullpen has only been tagged with a loss three times in August.
The Red Sox were criticized for failing to upgrade their bullpen at the trade deadline. It turns out, they didn’t need to.
Workman is getting the job done as the closer in his breakout year, posting a 1.98 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and 12.97 K/9. Josh Taylor has emerged as a surprise candidate for the setup role, allowing only one run in his last 13 2/3 innings (0.66 ERA). Marcus Walden has a 2.61 ERA and 0.77 WHIP in 20 2/3 innings since the break. Darwinzon Hernandez has a 2.84 ERA and a staggering 33 strikeouts in his last 19 innings.
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Ryan Brasier has allowed only one run in 6 1/3 innings for a 1.42 ERA since returning from his demotion to Pawtucket. Perhaps his temporary exile helped the veteran rediscover the magic that made him a surprise breakout last year.
Matt Barnes isn’t the most consistent guy but his ERA has been inflated by a horrendous month of June when he was the most overworked reliever in the league. He settled down to toss eight shutout innings the following month. After a few hiccups in early August, Barnes has recovered to pitch five consecutive innings without allowing a run. Barnes leads the league with a 15.88 K/9 (minimum 40 innings), proving he’s still capable of being a dominant reliever. Just don’t ask him to be the closer.
That’s half a dozen relievers who have been reliable options for the bullpen in the second half, a drastic shift from earlier this year when Boston struggled to find anyone to fit in their circle of trust.
The Red Sox still have issues with their injury-depleted rotation and the bullpen’s first-half woes may have put them in too deep of a hole to climb out of. If they do make a late run to reach the playoffs, Boston should enter October with confidence that their bullpen is no longer a liability. If they miss out on the postseason this year, at least they have the makings of a strong core of relievers heading into next season.