Red Sox bullpen needs to keep stepping up
Overall, these two guys have stepped up for the Red Sox so far this season. They will be leaned on heavily in the future to come in and shut down opposing hitters.
As we saw in last night’s 2-1 win against the Toronto Blue Jays, the bullpen kept the Red Sox in the game until the offense was able to manufacture a go-ahead run in the 8th inning thanks to a Connor Wong sac fly.
Cora managed last night’s win like a playoff game. He turned to his studs Strahm, Robles, Diekman, and Whitlock to shut the door on the electric Blue Jays offense after Nathan Eovaldi gave the Red Sox a solid 4.2 innings.
"“We’re still learning,” Cora said about the bullpen. “It’s not easy. I’ve been saying it all along. There’s certain guys that have to step up. And hopefully (Matt) Barnes can get to where we want him to get and take over.”"
It is great to see guys like Strahm and Robles build upon their confidence and keep batters at bay. It is the other arms in the pen that include Matt Barnes, Kutter Crawford, Ryan Brasier, Hirokazu Sawamura, Austin Davis, and Phillips Valdez that need to step up in order for the Red Sox to succeed this year, especially against tough teams like Toronto.