Red Sox already have an elite closer in Brandon Workman

Brandon Workman has established himself as one of the league’s top closers during his breakout season with the Boston Red Sox.

Much of the blame for the Boston Red Sox falling into an early hole that they never managed to escape was pinned on Dave Dombrowski’s failure to find a suitable closer. It turns out that they had one all along, it just took a while for the team to recognize that it was Brandon Workman.

The Red Sox opened the season with a closer by committee approach as their solution for replacing Craig Kimbrel, the future Hall of Fame reliever who they let walk in free agency. Seven different relievers logged at least one save for the team this season as manager Alex Cora desperately tried to find one who would stick in the role.

Despite allowing only five earned runs in his first 19 innings to open the season, Workman wasn’t given the chance to notch his first save until May 19. He would record only one more before the All-Star break while the Red Sox continued to give chances to the likes of Ryan Brasier and Matt Barnes, both of whom struggled outside of the comfort zone of the setup roles they were accustomed to.

Cora finally committed to Workman as the closer after the break and he responded by collecting 11 of the team’s 13 saves in the second half.

The case against Workman as a reliable closer stems from his six blown saves, tied for fifth-most in the American League. This stat is entirely misleading though. Workman is tied for 12th in the league with his 14 saves this season. Of the 11 AL relievers who have tallied more than 14 saves this season, seven have at least five blown saves.

Most of Workman’s blown saves came before he emerged as the team’s closer and therefore didn’t occur in the ninth inning. Half of his blown saves came in multi-inning efforts and he didn’t even allow an earned run in one of the others. The Red Sox would go on to win the game in four of Workman’s six blown saves, including both games he’s blown since establishing himself as the primary closer.

To claim that the Red Sox have squandered games because Workman isn’t a capable closer is widely inaccurate.

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Workman has been excellent all season. He owns a 2.04 ERA that ranks sixth in the league among pitchers with 40+ innings. His 1.04 WHIP ranks 12th in that same sample and he’s 10th with a 12.75 K/9.

The next general manager of the Red Sox will have his work cut out for him fixing this pitching staff. They will need to patch together a starting rotation that will lose Rick Porcello to free agency and faces uncertainty regarding the health of Chris Sale. There are still some holes in the bullpen that need to be addressed. There isn’t much room in the budget either as ownership seems intent on reducing their luxury tax bill.

One thing they shouldn’t worry about is the closer role. Workman has earned the right to enter 2020 as the undisputed closer of this team. He’ll earn a raise in arbitration but will still be a bargain and far cheaper than any “proven closer” found in free agency.

That doesn’t mean they should ignore the bullpen. They could still use an upgrade or two for the middle innings but the Red Sox have a solid core of relievers with Workman at the top of the hierarchy.