Red Sox Spring Training: Battle for bullpen spots heating up
The Boston Red Sox have a couple of spots to fill in their bullpen
The Boston Red Sox have made great strides in upgrading a bullpen that was among the worst in baseball last season but they still need to put the finishing touches on finalizing the group they intend to take with them to Opening Day next week.
Boston is expected to stack their roster with 14 pitchers, leaving nine relievers to join the five-man rotation. Seven relievers are virtual locks to open the season on the major league roster, provided that their health remains intact.
Matt Barnes and Adam Ottavino will handle the late-inning work. Manager Alex Cora has been hesitant to anoint a closer but both of these right-handers will be utilized in high-leverage situations regardless of their official title.
Hirokazu Sawamura has shown shaky command with seven walks in 2 1/3 innings this spring. Adapting to his first taste of the big leagues since his arrival from Japan will require an adjustment period. The Red Sox will ease him in with lower-leverage opportunities early in the season but his upside and contract warrant giving him a roster spot.
Darwinzon Hernandez and Josh Taylor are the primary lefties in the bullpen. They have each shown flashes of dominance at the major league level but they were severely limited by COVID-19 last season. Strong training camps from the southpaws prove the virus is behind them and they are ready to get back on track.
His status as a Rule 5 draft pick meant Garrett Whitlock was likely to break camp with the team anyway but a dazzling spring performance has cemented his spot. Whitlock has allowed only one earned run in nine innings while striking out a dozen batters without a walk. He’ll join free-agent addition Matt Andriese, who owns a solid 2.70 ERA this spring, as the long relievers in the bullpen.
That leaves two open spots for relief pitchers on the 26-man active roster that need to be identified by Opening Day.
Ryan Brasier is expected to begin the season on the injured list after missing time in camp with a broken finger. He should eventually factor into this bullpen but we’ll exclude him from the mix of contenders for Opening Day.
Marcus Walden had a solid track record prior to last year when he imploded with a 9.45 ERA in 15 relief appearances. He’s only pitched 1 1/3 innings over two appearances so far this spring, indicating he’s not quite ready. Walden will likely begin the season in Triple-A but could factor in later this year.
Let’s assess the status of the other relievers remaining in the team’s major league camp.
Red Sox final bullpen candidates
Phillips Valdez was the breakout star of last year’s bullpen but that success hasn’t carried over to this spring. He owns a 10.80 ERA and 1.65 WHIP with nearly as many walks (7) as strikeouts (8).
Valdez relies heavily on his changeup, throwing it 48.9 percent of the time last season, per Baseball Savant. It was an effective pitch last year when he held opposing hitters to a .194 batting average and generated a 36.8 WHIP% with the changeup. The problem is that he’s struggling to find the strike zone this spring. When he falls behind in the count, hitters aren’t going to chase the changeup down in the zone. He needs to leave it up more to get a strike, leading hitters to hammer the pitch if they are sitting on it. Valdez needs to prove he can get ahead with the sinker so that he can put hitters away with the change.
His exciting 2020 campaign might give Valdez a leg up in the competition but he’s better off ironing out his control issues in Triple-A if he doesn’t show progress over the next week since he has minor league options remaining.
Colten Brewer hasn’t given the Red Sox much reason to trust him this spring, surrendering four earned runs in 4 1/3 innings.
He was decent out of the bullpen last year though even if his overall results don’t show it. Brewer was part of Boston’s failed opener experiment last year, making four “starts.” He owned a solid 3.97 ERA in seven relief appearances and has the ability to pitch multiple innings.
Austin Brice owned a disappointing 5.95 ERA last season but he throws hard with upper-90s velocity and produced a strong 11.4 K/9. Unfortunately, the impressive strikeout rate was negated by a brutal walk rate of 5.9 BB/9.
More from Red Sox News
- Red Sox Nation deserves far more from Fenway Sports Group
- Bizarre trade deadline comes back to haunt Red Sox after Nathan Eovaldi departure
- Red Sox’ Moneyball-style offseason continues with Corey Kluber contract
- Rich Hill’s Red Sox departure puts him within striking distance of unique MLB record
- Red Sox offseason takes another nasty hit with Nathan Eovaldi departure
Brice has been mediocre this spring with a 5.40 ERA in five innings of work but the 6-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio is much more appealing.
While most of these candidates can be shipped to Triple-A if they aren’t ready, Brice is out of minor league options. If he doesn’t make the cut, the Red Sox might need to cut bait.
The most appealing candidate has been non-roster invitee Kevin McCarthy, who hasn’t allowed a run in six innings this spring while striking out six without a walk.
The former Kansas City Royals reliever has never been overpowering with his low-90s fastball and underwhelming 5.6 K/9 but he has good command and an elite groundball rate of 58.7% for his career. He’s a trustworthy veteran who provides a different look from the flamethrowers who account for the majority of the bullpen options.
McCarthy has an upward mobility cause in his contract, which means the Red Sox must offer him to every other team if they don’t add him to their 40-man roster by March 28. We should assume another team would claim him considering his strong spring, so the Red Sox will lose him if they don’t clear a spot for him on the 40-man roster.
Top choices for final Red Sox bullpen spots
We have our candidates but can only pick two to open the season on the active roster. Perhaps we should phrase it as we are forced to pick two considering it’s a struggle to find multiple appealing options in this group.
The Red Sox need to find room for McCarthy since he’s clearly the only one who has impressed among this quartet of relievers this spring. Plus, he owns a decent 3.80 ERA over five seasons as a reliever for the Royals.
McCarthy is the top choice, even if it comes at the expense of cutting ties with Brice, who is out of options and hasn’t done enough to earn an opportunity this spring.
That leaves Valdez and Brewer fighting over the final spot. Both have minor league options so they can be sent to the minors without sacrificing their claim to a 40-man roster spot. Valdez has the higher upside but he’s been a mess lately, making Brewer the safer choice to open the season in the big leagues even if he isn’t destined to stick around long-term.
Next. Red Sox breakout candidates for 2021. dark
Opening Day is just over a week away, leaving little time for these pitchers to change our minds. A strong finish to camp from any of these relievers could shake things up but we have a fairly clear picture of how the Red Sox bullpen will look to begin the season.