The Red Sox bullpen has drastically improved from last season
The Boston Red Sox bullpen was a dumpster fire that produced the fourth-worst ERA in the majors last season. We’re only a week into the 2021 season but it’s already apparent that this revamped bullpen is significantly better than the group they reluctantly trotted out to the mound last year.
Red Sox relievers enter the day with a collective 2.84 ERA that ranks seventh in the majors and fourth in the American League. They have already produced 0.7 WAR, trailing only the New York Yankees (1.0 WAR) among major league bullpens, per FanGraphs.
A case can be made that this bullpen has been even better than their ERA reflects. Red Sox relievers own a .346 BABIP that rates as the fourth-highest in the majors, suggesting they’ve been a bit unlucky on balls hit in play. All three teams with a higher BABIP own an ERA of at least 4.50.
Boston has countered the BABIP concerns with a strong 10.80 K/9 that ranks sixth in the majors. Perhaps most impressive is that they join the Atlanta Braves as the only bullpens that haven’t allowed a home run yet this season. Piling up strikeouts while keeping the ball in the yard is a significant reason why Boston’s bullpen leads the majors with a 2.19 FIP.
Matt Barnes, Garrett Whitlock, Phillips Valdez, Austin Brice, and Hirokazu Sawamura haven’t allowed a run yet this season and they have combined to allow a .098 batting average to opposing hitters over 19 innings.
Adam Ottavino hasn’t been tested much with a team-low 1 1/3 innings over two appearances. The Red Sox haven’t had a save situation yet after getting swept in the opening series of the season and winning three games by a comfortable margin. The lone exception was a one-run victory that went 12 innings but there are no save situations for the home team in extra-innings.
Ottavino surrendered a run in his first outing, which came in mop up duty simply to get him some work. It’s tough for a high-leverage reliever to get the adrenaline pumping in those meaningless situations. After he looked sharp this spring, there’s little reason to worry about the closer candidate.
The only eye sore in this bullpen has been Josh Taylor, who has allowed six earned runs in three innings this season. Considering the lefty missed the majority of the 2020 season while recovering from COVID-19, he deserves a bit of a break.
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Boston’s bullpen was not only terrible last year, they were also overworked. Red Sox relievers led the majors with 278 innings during the 60-game season. The club’s inability to patch together a viable rotation meant they were forced to lean on their relievers. The few reliable options they had were called in often and the heavy workload was taxing on their arms. Frequently turning to the bullpen early in games forced the team to send in pieces they found on the scrap heap to log significant innings. Relying that much on a bullpen that wasn’t very good to begin with was a recipe for disaster.
A stronger rotation should dampen those concerns this year. Boston should expect to get more innings out of their starters, allowing their relievers to settle into their roles with a more manageable workload. The Red Sox have still logged the seventh-most innings in the majors from their bullpen but they aren’t in danger of overworking their relievers the way they did last year.
The Red Sox didn’t make the splashy free-agent signings we expected but they did make several moves to fortify their bullpen. They stole Ottavino from a Yankees team desperate to slash payroll and snatched Whitlock from their rivals in the Rule 5 draft. They brought Sawamura over from Japan. Matt Andriese provides a versatile arm who can log multiple innings.
The bullpen isn’t stocked with high-profile names but the Red Sox have added several trustworthy arms that have vastly improved their depth. It’s too soon to call them elite but this bullpen is undoubtedly better than the one Boston used last year and their early season success is one of the primary reasons why the team enters the day tied for first place in the AL East.