The Boston Red Sox bullpen was expected to be a major flaw of the team in 2019, but the group quietly put together a solid campaign.
Entering the 2018 season, many expected the Boston Red Sox bullpen to be abysmal. However, the numbers show that was not the case. The group quietly was a strength of the team.
Before the season, most expected the Red Sox to have two reliable relievers, Matt Barnes and Ryan Brasier. Brasier struggled but the bullpen was still solid. Brandon Workman, Josh Taylor, Darwinzon Hernandez, and Marcus Walden all had breakout seasons, giving the Red Sox a solid core of five different relievers.
In addition to these five, the Red Sox have other pitchers with legitimate upside. We know what Brasier is capable of. Travis Lakins and Mike Shawaryn showed upside this year their farm system includes Durbin Feltman, the highly touted relief pitching prospect who figured it out at the end of the year in AA.
Colten Brewer also has tools that could help him break out under the new leadership from Chaim Bloom. They also have serviceable long-relief options in Hector Velazquez and Brian Johnson. There is also the possibility of a free agent signing. This gives the Red Sox a multitude of options in relief and if Bloom operates as he did in Tampa, the Red Sox could see big breakouts from a lot of these guys.
Overall on the season, the bullpen was 8th in FIP, 10th in xFIP, and 1st in K/9. Many will point to the major league-leading 31 blown saves and claim that shows the bullpen is weak, but the Yankees are considered to have one of the best bullpens in baseball and they blew 28. The amount of blown saves is really not an accurate way to evaluate a bullpen. Here is the breakdown of the bullpen as the off-season gets moving.